Bahia and Atletico Goianiense square off on Sunday evening with just two points separating the two teams in the Brasileiro standings.
While the home side are without a league victory in five matches, Atletico GO have gone three matches without suffering a defeat.
Match preview
© Reuters
Having collected 17 points from their opening 10 fixtures, Bahia appeared to be perfectly placed to launch a bid for the top four this season.
However, four successive defeats, all without getting on the scoresheet, have left Dado Cavalcanti searching for answers as he bids to keep the club in the top half of the table.
Claiming a 1-1 draw at 18th-placed Cuiaba is a small step in the right direction, but they are at risk of dropping several places down the standings with a fifth defeat in six outings.
Nevertheless, their success over leaders Atletico Mineiro in the Copa do Brasil on August 5 should not be ignored, despite ultimately losing the tie 3-2 on aggregate.
At a time when Bahia have fallen down the pecking order of Brazilian football, Atletico GO have just about remained in touch for the top four.
Despite five points being collected from their last three fixtures, Eduardo Barroca's men still sit eight points adrift of automatic qualification for the Copa Libertadores.
That is a consequence of just one win since July 7, but Barroca would have more than satisfied with a 1-0 win over Santos and a share of the spoils with Mineiro.
However, Atletico GO have now gone 13 league matches without scoring more than one goal in a fixture, leaving them with just 12 goals from 15 matches for the season.
- W
- L
- L
- L
- L
- D
- L
- L
- L
- L
- W
- D
- D
- L
- L
- W
- D
- D
- L
- W
- L
- D
- D
- D
Team News
© Reuters
Having been introduced as an early substitute last time out, former Wigan Athletic man Hugo Rodallega could be recalled to the attack.
Unless Cavalcanti opts to introduce more fresh legs into the team, the remainder of the Bahia starting lineup could stay the same.
Despite sitting as Atletico GO's top goalscorer, Ze Roberto is at risk of being replaced by Lucao in the final third.
Matheus Barbosa is also expected to be introduced into the midfield with Willian Maranhao suffering an injury last time out.
Bahia possible starting lineup:
Teixeira; Paraiba, Conti, Otavio, Capixaba; Mugni, Edson, Danielzinho; Rossi, Rodriguinho, Rodallega
Atletico Goianiense possible starting lineup:
Miguel; Arnaldo, Wanderson, Eder, Natanael; Barbosa, Baralhas; Ronald, Joao Paulo, Janderson; Lucao
We say: Bahia 1-1 Atletico Goianiense
Placed just four points clear of 18th position, Bahia will be wary of losing yet another fixture in quick succession. With that in mind and the two clubs sitting near each other in the table, we expect a relatively uneventful draw.
Top tip
Darren Plant
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 Bahia win with a probability of 48.41%. A draw had a probability of 27.1% and a win for Atletico Goianiense had a probability of 24.52%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bahia win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.71%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.68%) and 2-1 (8.9%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.61%), while for an Atletico Goianiense win it was 0-1 (8.94%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 5.8% likelihood.
