Sports Mole previews Sunday’s Brasileiro clash between Botafogo and Cruzeiro, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Seeking to make it five home wins on the spin, Botafogo play host to Cruzeiro at the Estadio Nilton Santos in round 20 of the Brasileiro Serie A on Saturday.
The visiting side head into the weekend unbeaten in each of their last 13 games against the Lone Stars since September 2016 and will be looking to extend this dominant run.
Match preview
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Botafogo were denied a sixth consecutive victory on Wednesday evening as they were held to a 2-2 draw by a resilient Sao Paulo side at the Estadio do Morumbi.
Tiquinho Soares and Cuiabano scored in an 11-minute spell to cancel out Lucas Moura‘s sixth-minute opener and put the visitors in front but Aldemir Ferreira restored parity in the 69th minute to force a share of the spoils.
With Wednesday’s result, Botafogo have now gone eight straight games without defeat, claiming six wins and two draws since a 2-1 loss against Criciuma at the Estadio Heriberto Hulse on June 22.
Artur Jorge‘s men have picked up 12 wins and four draws in their 19 Serie A matches so far to collect 40 points and sit top of the table, three points above second-placed Flamengo who have one game in hand.
Next up for Botafogo is the stern challenge of taking on an opposing side whom they have failed to get the better of in their last 12 meetings, losing four and claiming eight draws since a 2-0 victory in September 2016.
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Cruzeiro returned to winning ways last time out as they picked up a comfortable 2-0 victory over 10-man Juventude when the sides squared off at the Estadio Minerao.
In a game where Ze Marcos saw a late red card, former Schalke and Wolfsburg man William broke the deadlock from the spot on the stroke of half time before Juan Dinenno made sure of the result with an 87th-minute penalty.
Prior to that, Cruzeiro saw their three-game winning streak come to an end on July 21, when they were beaten 2-0 by Palmeiras at Allianz Parque courtesy of goals from Jose Lopez and Gabriel Merino.
Fernando Seabra‘s men have picked up 32 points from their 18 Serie A games so far to sit fifth in the table, level on points with sixth-placed Sao Paulo, albeit with one game in hand.
While Cruzeiro boast the best home record in the Serie A, having won each eight matches at the Estadio Minerao this season, they have struggled to replicate this dominance on the road, where they are currently on a run of one win in seven matches while losing five and claiming one draw since the start of June.
The Raposa will need to be at their best this weekend as they journey to the Estadio Nilton Santos, where Botafogo are on a four-game winning streak and are unbeaten in their last seven matches across all competitions since early May.
Botafogo Brasileiro form:
Cruzeiro Brasileiro form:
Team News
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Botafogo will take to the pitch without the services of Gatito Fernandez and new signing Thiago Almada, who are away at the ongoing Olympics with Paraguay and Argentina respectively.
On the injury front, the Lone Stars will have to cope without the services of Rafael da Silva (knee), Carlos Eduardo (thigh) and Junior Santos (ankle) who all continue their spells on the sidelines.
The Brazilian duo of Jeffinho and 33-year-old defender Pablo are currently recuperating from knee and thigh injuries respectively and will also play no part in Saturday’s game.
As for Cruzeiro, Seabra will be unable to name 32-year-old forward Rafa Silva, who has been out of action since picking up a thigh injury versus Vasco da Gama on June 16.
Gabriel Veron missed Wednesday’s game against Juventude after coming off injured versus Palmeiras on July 21 and the 21-year-old is a major doubt for this weekend’s clash.
Botafogo possible starting lineup:
John; Suarez, Bastos, Barboza, Cuiabano; Henrique, Freitas, Barbosa, Savarino; Soares, Jesus
Cruzeiro possible starting lineup:
Cassio; William, Ze Ivaldo, Marcelo, Kaiki; Silva, Romero, Barreal; Pereira, Jorge, Gomes
We say: Botafogo 3-1 Cruzeiro
While Cruzeiro will be looking to extend their unbeaten run against Botafogo, they have struggled to get going on their travels in recent weeks. The Lone Stars have been near impenetrable on home turf this season and we see them coming away with the desired result this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.