São Paulo v Avai 

With international fixtures taking place, there’s only one match this weekend in the Brazilian Serie A as 13^th place São Paulo, host 17^th place Avai at the Morumbi on Sunday evening. In the meeting earlier on in the campaign, Reinaldo gave Sao Paulo the lead, before a second half goal from Muriqui ensured the pair settled for a point in a 1-1 draw. 

After four matches without a win in the league and a midweek cup exit at the hands of Flamengo, São Paulo need a response against Ceará. Thankfully, Rogério Ceni’s men got off to a wonderful start when Jonathan Calleri gave them the lead in the 23^rd minute from the penalty spot. Vozão were reduced to ten men just before the second half, which allowed Sao Paulo to dominate the match and end up with an important 2-0 victory. Sao Paulo racked up an impressive XG of 3.08 compared to their opponents 0.94, something they will hope to emulate in this outing. 

Nikao and Robert Arboleda miss out through injury, whilst Nahuel Ferraresi is on international duty with Venezuela. 

Before their match with Atletico Mineiro last time out, Avai had gone nine matches without a victory and desperately needed a win. Lisca took charge of his first Avai game and got them off to a flawless start, as they ran out 1-0 winners, thanks to a penalty from Guilherme Bissoli. They are now three matches unbeaten and will be keen for a similar result here as Avai still sit in the bottom four on Brazil’s tiebreaker of ‘games won’. A victory here, would see them climb out of the drop zone, which will increase the pressure on the teams in and around them before their games during the week. If they pick up the three points here, they will only be three points away from their opponents. Leão da ilha will be without Ranielle due to a ban. Matheus Galdezani terminated his contract during the week, stating that it was for personal reasons. 

Coming into this game, despite their impressive win last week, Avai have been shocking on the road this season with; one win, three draws and nine losses. Sao Paulo have an important Copa Sudamericana final next week and they will be hoping to build momentum going into the clash against Ecuadorian side Independiente del Valle. With that in mind,  Tricolor should live up to their favourites tag in this outing.