The Brazilian Serie A is slowly but surely entering its final stages, and this time we have analyzed the duel between Fortaleza and Botafogo, which will also be a clash between the twelfth and the second-placed teams in the table. The start of the match between these two teams is scheduled for 11 PM.
Fortaleza: Three consecutive losses to Botafogo, is it time to break the bad streak?
Fortaleza was founded 105 years ago, and to date, this team has won the state championship title “Cearense” as many as 46 times. In addition, this club won the Brazilian Serie B title in 2018, which brought them to the highest tier of Brazilian football, where they have remained to this day. Last season, Fortaleza finished in a quite good eighth place in the table, earning them a spot in the Copa Libertadores qualifiers. Speaking of the highest quality club competition in South America, it should be mentioned that the Brazilian representative failed to reach the group stage, but this team made a great impression in the Copa Sudamericana, and it remains a big regret that Fortaleza did not manage to win their first title in this competition after losing in the grand final to LDU following a penalty shootout.
It seems that this likable team stopped playing football right after reaching the Sudamericana final, as the current “Cearense” champion has strung together eight matches without a win in all competitions, during which they suffered seven losses and only one draw. At this moment, Juan Pablo Vojvoda’s team is in twelfth place in the table, which at the end of the season would qualify them for the Sudamericana, however, the concerning part is that the popular Lions currently have only a five-point advantage over the relegation zone teams. In the last round, Fortaleza suffered another defeat at home against Cruzeiro, with the match ending 0:1.
At home, this year’s representative of Brazil in the Sudamericana has played sixteen matches, achieving eight victories, four draws, and four losses, and it should be remembered that this team has been recording excellent results in the Brazilian championship for years, thanks mainly to great performances at their stadium. Finally, the last head-to-head encounter between Fortaleza and Botafogo was played just over five months ago, when the currently second-placed team in the table easily won 2:0 at their stadium.
Botafogo: Six consecutive matches without a win!
Unlike Fortaleza, Botafogo has won the national championship twice, in 1968 and 1995. Interestingly, last season was a comeback for Botafogo to the top tier of Brazilian football, as the team had played in Serie B the year before, but after impressive performances, they made a swift return to the elite. In their comeback season in Serie A, the primary goal was naturally to stay in the top division, but Botafogo ended up in a solid eleventh place in the table, which also qualified them for the Copa Sudamericana.
The Brazilian representative reached the knockout stage of the Sudamericana without much trouble, but the black-and-whites were stopped in the quarterfinals by Argentina’s Defensa y Justicia, a team that had recently won the second most prestigious club competition in South America. Certainly, the Sudamericana was not a priority this season, especially considering that until a few months ago, Botafogo was playing incredibly well in Serie A and held a convincing first place in the table. At one point, it seemed that it would take a miracle for this team to miss out on the Brazilian championship title.
However, as time passed, the former Brazilian champion’s performances declined, and now we can talk about Thiago Nunes’ team failing to win in their last six matches, after which they fell to second place in the table. They are now two points behind the leader Palmeiras, who, to be fair, has played one more match. In the last round, the black-and-whites played a solid match away against this season’s excellent Bragantino, ending in a 2:2 draw, with the home team equalizing after a goal in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
Before that, Botafogo suffered a spectacular defeat at their stadium against Gremio, in a match that saw seven goals, with Luis Suarez and his teammates celebrating a 3:4 victory. Finally, the former table leaders have played sixteen away matches, achieving seven victories, four draws, and five losses.
Our Betting Suggestions
The impression is that this is a very difficult match to predict. Both teams have been delivering disastrous performances lately, and it seems that Botafogo needs the points much more, as a victory would put them back in the top position on the table and allow them to decide their own fate. We boldly recommend playing an away side win (fr 2), for which the betting company Mozzartbet has prepared an odds of 3.05.
We believe that a double chance X2 on Botafogo is also a very acceptable option for this duel, and Mozzartbet offers odds of 1.60 for this.
Finally, a big question is whether a single goal in the home team’s net will be enough for a victory, so the former table leader will undoubtedly give their all to score at least two goals. Therefore, we highly recommend playing a t2 over 1.5 goals bet with odds of 2.85.
Be the first to comment