Ceara v Palmeiras

Ceará host Palmeiras at the Arena Castelão in Fortaleza in what has the potential to be an exciting battle. The last five matches between the sides has seen 16 goals between them, in what have been relatively even games with two wins a piece and a draw.

After three Brazilian Serie A wins on the spin, Ceara suffered their first loss last weekend, at the hands of Juventude, away from home. The loss was a real wake-up call for Ceara. A victory would have seen them go seven points clear of the drop zone, but instead, the Northeastern club now sit four points above 17th place Cuiaba. In truth, it was a poor game, as both sides rarely threatened with Ceara having a slightly better XG of 0.86 compared to Juve’s 0.79. However, despite this, it was Paraguayan forward Isidro Pitta who had the cutting edge. Ceara have only lost two of their last nine matches and will be hoping that last weekend’s defeat, isn’t a sign of things to come.

Palmeiras have had a rare full week to prepare for the game here, which will have given them plenty of time to rest and recover for upcoming important fixtures. After their shock 2-0 loss to Athletico Paranaense at the beginning of the month, Palmeiras are unbeaten with four wins and two draws. They sit top of the tree in Brazil, four points clear of anyone else. Last weekend, they enjoyed a 2-1 victory at home over Internacional, thanks to a late equalizer from Gabriel Menino. This was their third victory in a row and they will now be eager to carry on their good form.

When the sides met on the opening day of the season, Palmeiras were stunned in a 3-2 loss, as they failed to deal with Ceara’s pacey counter-attacks. Despite being favourites here, it’s hard to fully back Palmeiras to win because of their opening day struggles, but one outcome which seems likely is that they will be goals in this one.

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Flamengo v Atlético Goianiense

Sixth place Flamengo take on 18th Atlético Goianiense at the Maracanã in a matchup that is important at both ends of the table. It will be Flamengo’s first home league game at the world-famous stadium since their 3-0 win over America Mineiro on June 25th.

After defeat to Corinthians on their last away day, Flamengo bounced back on the road in style. After going a goal behind, the Rubro Negro showed character, as a brace from in-form striker Pedro ensured a 2-1 victory over Avai. Their expected goals of 3.99 was way higher than Avai’s 1.06. This was the second match in a row where Flamengo had an XG higher than 3.50. The performances are flowing under Dorval Junior, especially at home. They have won six out of seven home games and in this period have scored 20 times, whilst only conceding once.

Serial winner, Arturo Vidal, could make his debut here, it would be his first game in South America since playing for Colo-Colo back in 2007. Goalkeeper Diego Alves still remains an injury doubt, meaning Hugo Santos may retain his place between the sticks.

Atlético Goianiense have been in poor form in recent weeks, which sees them sit in the bottom four and are four points from safety. Last weekend, they took on America Mineiro and despite having a far greater XG at 1.73 compared to America’s 0.57, suffered a 1-0 home loss. The defeat was Atletico’s fifth in a row in the league. Dragão’s last victory over Flamengo away from home, came way back in 2011. In recent weeks, creating chances hasn’t been their problem, their issue has been finding the net. They need to be more clinical if they want a sniff in this game.

Flamengo will be confident of picking up the points here, they have been ruthless and will expect to victory. The duo of Pedro and Gabriel Barbosa has been thrilling to watch in recent weeks and if that clicks here, they should extend their winning run in the league to four.

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America Mineiro v Avai

America Mineiro host Avaí at the Estádio Independência in what is a huge match at the bottom of the Brasileirão. With both sides level on points and only separated by goal difference, the battle here can be dubbed as a real six-pointer.

After defeats to Internacional, Bragantino and Palmeiras, America Mineiro finally returned to winning ways with a narrow 1-0 victory over Atlético Goianiense last weekend, thanks to a first-half goal from Felipe Azevedo. They will now be hoping they can build on the victory as they sit just a point adrift of the bottom four. This was the third time in four matches they had been outperformed on expected goals with a 0.57 compared to Atletico GO’s 0,57, but they will be happy they made the most of the chances they were offered.

Avai have been in horrendous form in recent weeks, with only one win in their last seven outings. Last time out, they put in a decent display but came short in a 2-1 home loss to giants Flamengo. After taking an early lead through pacey centre-half Arthur Chaves, a brace from Pedro ensured the Rubro Negro the three points. Avai allowed Flamengo to have too many decent scoring chances, which led to their downfall. Their XG of 1.06 was way below Flamengo’s 3.99, showing they need to improve in both defence and attack.

Bruno Cortez and Ranielle can return for Avai here which will give them a boost.

Coming into this game, both sides will want to avoid losing, which could make for a slow-burning cagey affair. America have only scored on average, one goal per game in the league, whilst Avai have the second worst away record in the division, with one win from nine. In this period, they have scored only four goals. With that in mind, the goals in this one, could be at a premium.

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