RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Goalkeeper Ederson said Tuesday that Brazil must "dig deep" to arrest a form slump that threatens to derail the team's World Cup qualifying campaign.

Dorival Junior's side, currently fifth in the South American qualifying group, will meet Chile in Santiago on Thursday and Peru in Brasilia five days later.

"We are not in great form, but neither are Chile," the Manchester City player told a news conference.

Brazil have just three wins from eight outings in the CONMEBOL qualifying tournament.

A failure to emerge from the rut against Chile and Peru could leave the five-time world champions outside the automatic qualifying places for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

"We have to show more and dig deep to get back to the top of the table, where we should be," Ederson said. "With victories comes confidence and the most important thing now is to win," he added.

Ederson is in line to start against Chile after Liverpool's Alisson was cut from the squad because of a hamstring injury.

The 31-year-old said he was relishing the chance to be a leader and a role model for his younger teammates.

"I'm one of the most experienced in the group, along with Danilo, Weverton and Marquinhos," Ederson said. "But everyone has to be responsible and lead, regardless of their age.

"Do the older players advise the youngsters? We pass on what we have experienced in the national team and that helps the younger ones to adapt and improve. We do our best to work together so that we can be as strong as possible."

The top six teams in the group will automatically qualify for the 2026 World Cup while the seventh-ranked side will advance to an intercontinental playoff. Enditem

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