Round seven of the ongoing Brasileiro campaign serves up an exciting contest as city rivals Corinthians and Sao Paulo face off at the Neo Quimica Arena on Sunday.
The teams have made undeniably bright starts to the season, and both of them will be looking to continue in the same vein.
Match preview
Sao Paulo had to settle for a 1-1 draw in their Copa Libertadores clash against Boca Juniors on Wednesday in Buenos Aires.
Vitor Pereira's men took the lead in the 16th minute through Du Queiroz but were pegged back by Dario Benedetto in the final knockings of the first half.
Prior to that, Todo Poderoso played out a thrilling 2-2 stalemate against Internacional on Saturday and have now seen their lead at the top of the Brasileiro table cut to a single point.
Awaiting them next is the task of going up against an opposing side who are yet to taste defeat in any of the last five meetings between the teams, winning each of the most recent three.
Ahead of a crunch continental involvement against Always Ready five days later, Sunday's hosts will be looking to set the tone with a dominant display this weekend.
Sao Paulo eased past the threat of Bolivian outfit Jorge Wilstermann in a routine 3-0 triumph on Friday at Estadio do Morumbi.
A first-half brace from Rodrigo Nestor set Rogerio Ceni's men on their way before Patrick put the final nail in the coffin a few minutes into the second period.
O Clube da Fe also got the better of Cuiaba in their most recent league outing, which leaves them third in the standings, two points off the top.
Having won just one of their last six matches on the road, Sunday's visitors will need to get going on the road as soon as possible if they are to mount a proper title challenge over the course of the whole season.
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- D
- W
- D
- W
- W
- D
- D
- W
- L
- D
- W
- D
- W
- W
- D
- D
- W
- W
- W
Team News
Ex-Barcelona midfielder Paulinho is yet to recover from a knee problem and will sit out a sixth game on the bounce.
Corinthians will also be without the services of Oliveira Ruan, who has not featured in over a year due to a cruciate ligament injury.
Sao Paulo's Gabriel Sara is a guaranteed absentee as he is yet to fully recuperate from a three-week-old muscle injury.
However, Andres Colorado could make his return to action on Sunday after missing the last three games with an ankle problem.
Jonathan Calleri currently leads the scoring charts with six goals and will be looking to deliver the goods once again.
Corinthians possible starting lineup:
Cassio; Gustavo, Victor, Robson; Fabio, Queiroz, Maycon, Piton; Willian, Jo, Mosquito
Sao Paulo possible starting lineup:
Couto; Rafinha, Miranda, Luizao, Santos; Neves, Patrick, Nestor; Nikao, Eder, Calleri
We say: Corinthians 2-1 Sao Paulo
The teams have a lot of attacking quality on display, so we anticipate an open and exciting contest with chances at both ends. We are also backing Corinthians to emerge victorious at the end of the 90 minutes and end their losing streak in this fixture.
For additional data used by our team to analyse our suggested result please click here.
Top tip
Adepoju Marvellous
