In dire need of a win, Bahia will be hopeful of causing an upset when they tackle Fortaleza at Arena Fonte Nova on Sunday morning.
While Bahia suffered yet another defeat last time out, having gone two goals down to Fluminense, Fortaleza played out a goalless draw against Cuiaba to pick up a point.
Match preview
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Ever since their promotion from Serie B in 2016, Bahia have been consistent enough to establish themselves as a mid-table outfit in the Brazilian top flight, and will be hopeful of continuing to impress in this division.
Once again, Tricolor have their sights set on a comfortable league finish this term, but are currently not doing enough to suggest they will be able to pull this off, having failed to win any of their previous eight league games.
Along the line of this recent Brasileiro slump, Diego Dabove's men were sent crashing out of the Copa do Brasil, after succumbing to a 3-2 aggregate defeat to Atletico Mineiro in early August, to add salt to their wounds.
Last seen in action away at Fluminense, Bahia were outclassed by the hosts, and were comfortably brushed aside, as goals from Lucca and Raul Bobadilla saw them drop down to 16th place in the standings, with 18 points in as many games.
Though Tricolor are quite prolific in front of goal, they have struggled at the other end of the pitch, having conceded 30 goals so far while managing four clean sheets, to hold the worst defensive record in the league.
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Dabove will be counting on his attackers to attempt outscoring Fortaleza, who are seeking Brasileiro glory, having won nine matches so far to occupy third place on the log, six points shy of the summit.
For a side that narrowly escaped relegation last season, Fortaleza are exceeding expectations this time around, as they continue to mount a serious title challenge, remaining hot on the tails of Palmeiras and Atletico Mineiro, both of whom are above them.
However, Lion of the Pici appear to have taken their foot off the pedal lately, failing to win any of their preceding three league matches, having been made to settle for a share of the spoils in each of them.
Following a 2-2 stalemate against Sao Paulo in the Copa do Brasil, Fortaleza could not find a way past a resilient Cuiaba side, who held on to secure a point to condemn Juan Pablo Vojvoda's men to a fourth successive draw in all competitions.
Fortaleza, who have become all too accustomed to draws recently, will be keen to return to winning ways in this fixture to keep the pressure on the teams above them in the league.
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Team News
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Gilberto, who has notched up 10 goals in the league this term, should continue to lead the line for Bahia, to be supported by Rossi, Rodriguinho and Lucas Mugni in midfield.
Even though he has conceded the highest number of goals in the division so far, the young Matheus Teixeira is expected to remain in goal for the hosts.
The trio of Thonny Anderson, Danilo Fernandes and Juan Pablo Ramirez remain sidelined and are out of contention for this fixture.
Having tested positive for COVID-19 a few weeks ago, Marcelo Benevenuto is not expected in Fortaleza's squad as the player continues to remain in isolation.
Osvaldo Filho and Max Walef, who are nursing thigh and elbow injuries respectively, will be missing for the visitors.
Bahia possible starting lineup:
Teixeira; Paraiba, Conti, Otavio, Capixaba; Daniel, De Lucca; Rossi, Rodriguinho, Mugni; Gilberto
Fortaleza possible starting lineup:
Boeck; Titi, Jackson, Tinga; Crispim, Felipe, Ederson, Pikachu; Vargas; Fernandes, David
We say: Bahia 1-3 Fortaleza
Sporting the worst defensive record in the league, Bahia cannot stop conceding goals and will be facing the difficult task of keeping Fortaleza's rampant frontline quiet in this fixture.
Having failed to win any of their previous three matches, the visitors, who we are backing to stroll to success, will be itching to get back on track with victory over Tricolor in this contest.
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 Bahia win with a probability of 38.16%. A win for Fortaleza had a probability of 34.27% and a draw had a probability of 27.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bahia win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.18%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.11%) and 2-0 (6.96%). The likeliest Fortaleza win was 0-1 (10.46%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.02%). The actual scoreline of 4-2 was predicted with a 0.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Bahia would win this match.
