Sports Mole previews Sunday’s Brasileiro clash between Cruzeiro and Corinthians, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Cruzeiro will be seeking to bounce back from consecutive defeats when they welcome Corinthians to the Mineirao Stadium on Sunday evening.
Meanwhile, the away side head to Belo Horizonte in search of a second straight victory fresh from ending a seven-game winless run last time out.
Match preview
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Cruzeiro came away empty-handed from their meeting against Criciuma which ended in a narrow 1-0 loss at Estadio Heriberto Hulse on Thursday.
Fernando Seabra‘s men were undone in the early exchanges of the second half by Yannick Bolasie‘s opener and that was enough to put them to the sword.
As a result, La Bestia Negra have dropped down to eighth place in the Brasileiro table, seven points adrift of the top four having played one game fewer.
Lying in store next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who boast just one victory from the last seven encounters involving the teams.
Currently on a run of seven home wins in a row, Sunday’s hosts are in scintillating form on their own patch and will be confident of coming out on top this weekend.
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Corinthians just about managed to get themselves over the line in Friday’s thrilling 3-2 contest against Vitoria at the Neo Quimica Arena.
Rodrigo‘s first-half double was cancelled out by strikes in both halves by Alerrandro to leave the clash level heading into stoppage time in which Giovane struck the winner.
With 12 points picked up from 14 matches so far, Time do Povo sit 17th in the standings but are in the relegation zone only on goal difference.
Winless in their last five away outings since beating America RN and Nacional Asuncion back in May, Sunday’s visitors have not fared well on their travels of late and now set out to turn their fortunes around.
Cruzeiro Brasileiro form:
Corinthians Brasileiro form:
Team News
Curzeiro’s Joao Marcelo will serve a one-game suspension in this one due to accumulation of yellow cards, while Rafa Silva misses out through injury.
Argentine Juan Dinenno remains without an appearance for the home side since early April due to a thigh problem and is not expected to feature this weekend.
Midfielder Maycon will not play any part for Corinthians here as he continues his recovery from a knee injury he picked up against Juventude.
The away side are also set to be without the services of 24-year-old Ruan Oliveira who remains a long-term absentee.
Cruzeiro possible starting lineup:
Anderson; Kaiki, Marcelo, Ze Ivaldo, Palacios; Ramiro, Silva, Romero; Gomes, Veron, Pereira
Corinthians possible starting lineup:
Donelli; Franca, Menezes, Hugo, Henrique; Raniele, Coronado, Garro; Henrique, Alberto, Wesley
We say: Cruzeiro 2-1 Corinthians
Goals have been a constant feature of this matchup and we expect the trend to continue here. That said, we can see the hosts edging out their visitors to come away with maximum points in the end.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.