Bragantino face Corinthians on Saturday evening at the Estadio Nabi Abi Chedid in the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A, with the hosts coming off the back of a 3-1 victory away to Club Libertad on Wednesday night in their Copa Sudamericana semi-final tie.
The visitors are undefeated in eight matches coming into this one and will look to leapfrog them in the table, sitting just one place below the hosts.
Match preview
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After a good start by Bragantino, which saw them sit top of Serie A after eight games, they have now slipped down the table into fifth.
They lost their last league match 2-1 to Fluminense and will be looking to get one over Corinthians here as the two teams sit side by side in the table.
Mauricio Barbieri's side have not been on the best of form recently, failing to win in their last four league matches, with their last win in the league coming at the end of August when they defeated America Mineiro 2-0 away from home.
Since then, they have drawn two and lost two, including a poor defeat at home to bottom side Chapecoense, but they have managed to reach the final of the Copa Sudamericana in that time after they defeated Paraguayan side Libertad 5-1 on aggregate.
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Corinthians come into this match in superb form, not losing since the beginning of August, and have picked up four wins and four draws as they sit just one place below Bragantino in sixth.
Timao recorded a 2-1 victory last time out at home to Palmeiras, who sit in second place, thanks to a brace by Roger Guedes and they will be looking to build on the win and overtake Bragantino in fifth.
A top-four finish is still very much possible for both sides at the moment despite Flamengo sitting in fourth, two points above them with games in hand.
Sylvinho's side have been impressive away from home this season and sit third in the away table, picking up 20 points from 11 matches, which will give them confidence heading to Braganca Paulista, against a Bragantino side that has a poor home record this term, picking up just 12 points in 10 games.
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Team News
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Bragantino were without Bruno Tubarao, Cesar Haydar and Leandrinho for their match against Libertad on Wednesday and they are expected to miss out again here.
Braga lined up in a 4-2-3-1 system, with 33-year-old Ytalo leading the line, and the Brazilian is expected to start up top once again on Saturday having established himself as Braga's top league goalscorer this season, scoring eight goals in 17 matches as well as assisting three.
Twenty-year-old Adson is expected to miss out for Corinthians due to injury, with the midfielder having missed the last five games, as well as Ruan Oliveira, who is out with a long-term injury which has limited him to just four appearances this term.
It would not be a surprise if Sylvinho's side lined up in the same manner as they did in their victory over Palmeiras last time out, deploying a 4-3-3 formation, with former Premier League star Willian featuring on the left flank.
Bragantino possible starting lineup:
Cleiton; Aderlan, Bruno, Ortiz, Edimar; Jadsom, Ramires; Artur, Praxedes, Cuello; Ytalo
Corinthians possible starting lineup:
Cassio; Fagner, Victor Sa, Gil, Santos; Giuliano, Cantillo, Augusto; Pereira; Guedes, Willian
We say: Bragantino 1-2 Corinthians
Bragantino's home form is a concern and after featuring midweek, they are expected to have some tired legs.
Corinthians' form has also been top notch recently and they will take confidence from their win over Palmeiras last time out so we are predicting that it will be a narrow win for the visitors.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Bragantino win with a probability of 37.26%. A win for Corinthians had a probability of 32.87% and a draw had a probability of 29.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bragantino win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.34%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (7.38%) and 2-0 (7.31%). The likeliest Corinthians win was 0-1 (12.29%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.47%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 3.7% likelihood.
