Seeking to progress to the knockout stages of the Copa Libertadores, Corinthians play host to Always Ready in their final group encounter at the Neo Quimica Arena on Thursday.
While the Bolivian outfit are way off the playoffs places, they could still secure a place in the Copa Sudamericana as they sit three points off third-placed Boca Juniors in the qualification spot.
Match preview
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Corinthians maintained their lead at the top of the Serie A standings last Sunday when they came from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw against third-placed Sao Paulo.
Argentine forward Jonathan Calleri opened the scoring on the stroke of half time to hand the Tricolor Paulista a first-half lead before substitute Adson restored parity with 10 minutes left on the clock.
This was in keeping with their fine run in the Copa Libertadores, where they are currently on a four-game unbeaten run, picking up two wins and two draws since opening their campaign with a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Thursday's visitors back in April.
With eight points from five games, Vitor Pereira's men are currently second in the Group E standings, level on points with first-placed Deportivo Cali and one above Boca Juniors just outside the playoffs qualification spot.
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Always Ready, on the other hand, suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Universitario de Vinto in the Bolivian Professional Division when the sides met at the Estadio Municipal de Sacaba last Sunday.
After taking the lead through Marcos Riquelme's 17th-minute penalty, the hosts upped the ante in the second period as Yerco Vallejos restored parity in the 49th minute before Rodrigo Llano completed the comeback with an 82nd-minute strike.
La Banda Roja now turn their attention to the Copa Sudamericana, where they have picked up one win, one draw and lost three of their five games so far to collect four points and sit rock bottom in the group standings.
Eduardo Villegas's side have now failed to taste victory in any of their last seven games on the road across all competitions, losing six and picking up one draw since a 1-0 win at Real Santa Cruz back in March.
While Always Ready will look to end this dry spell and keep their slim Copa Sudamericana qualification hopes alive, next up is a rampant Corinthians side who are unbeaten in 11 straight home outings, picking up an impressive 10 wins and one draw since February's 2-1 loss to Santos.
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Team News
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Always Ready will take to the pitch without the services of Marc Enoumba, who is currently suspended for picking up a red card against Deportivo Cali on May 20, while Nelson Cabrera misses out after passing the yellow card threshold.
Other than that, the Bolivian side head into the game with a clean bill of health and no suspension concerns, giving Villegas the luxury of a relatively full strength squad at his disposal.
Corinthians, in contrast, will have to cope without several key players down the spine of the team as the likes of Luan (hip), Paulinho (ACL) and Joao Pedro (thigh) continue their spiels on the sidelines.
Brazilian defender Fagnar is also set to sit out his sixth consecutive game after coming off with an ankle injury in the group game against Deportivo Cali on May 5.
Ruan Oliveira continues his long journey to full fitness after the 22-year-old midfielder picked up a severe ACL injury against Sao Paulo last August.
Corinthians possible starting lineup:
Cassio; Bambu, Victor, Gustavo; Piton, Maycon, Queiroz, Santos; Silva, Jo, Willian
Always Ready possible starting lineup:
Gimenez; Rambal, Martíinez, Valda, Flores; Blanco; Cristaldo, Adrian, Chumacero, Arabe; Torres
We say: Corinthians 2-1 Always Ready
Corinthians head into the game knowing failure to come away with all three points could potentially spell an end to their hopes of a place in the knockout stages. However, they will be backing themselves against an Always Ready side who are yet to pick up a point on the road so far. We predict Corinthians will do just enough to pick up all three points and secure smooth passage to the next phase of the continental showpiece.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
