Preview: Cruzeiro vs Ceara - prediction, team news, lineups

Cruzeiro will aim to maintain their slender lead atop the Brasileiro Serie A table when they welcome Ceara to Mineirao in Belo Horizonte for a Sunday afternoon affair.

Following a 0-0 draw with Corinthians in midweek, Celeste are just a point above Flamengo for first, while Ceara are just adrift of the last Copa Sudamericana spot in 13th, losing 2-0 at home to Mirassol in their previous encounter.

Match preview

July had been relatively smooth sailing for Cruzeiro until this week, when they saw a four-match domestic winning run come to an end at Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo.

Leonardo Jardim’s men are the second-highest scoring team in the league (27 goals) but on Wednesday failed to find the back of the net for only the fifth time this year.

On the other hand, they have been airtight defensively this season, conceding just once in their previous three Serie A encounters, while they enter this match having posted three successive clean sheets.

Sunday will be their eighth match at Mineirao in the 2025 competition, with this team dropping points in only one of those previous instances, on matchday nine versus Atletico Mineiro (0-0).

Cruzeiro have given up a mere three goals combined in all of their domestic home games at Mineirao this year, only one of which came in the final 45 minutes of play.

Raposa have points in six of their previous seven league fixtures against Ceara, collecting a 1-0 triumph the previous time they hosted them at Mineirao during the 2019 campaign (2019).

While Cruzeiro have often looked impenetrable in the 2025 campaign, it has been the opposite story for Ceara, who have barely been able to buy a goal over the past month.

In their first season back in the top flight, they have failed to find the back of the net six times domestically, without a goal in three successive Serie A affairs.

They will enter this weekend encounter having lost five of their previous six domestic affairs, netting a goal or fewer on five of those occasions.

Another defeat on Sunday would give them eight in the competition this year, one more than they suffered in their promotional campaign in Serie B a year ago.

It has not gone well for them over the past couple of months, but all in all, Leonardo Rodrigues Conde will be pleased with where they sit, a mere two points behind Fluminense in eighth and four points above the relegation line.

At the same time, they have points in two of their previous three meetings with Cruzeiro in Serie A, including a 2-0 win at Mineirao during the 2018 season.

Cruzeiro Brasileiro form:

Ceara Brasileiro form:

Ceara form (all competitions):

Team News

In their midweek draw, Cruzeiro were without Joao Marcelo as the Brazilian centre-back is still recovering from torn knee ligaments which he sustained in early February.

Cassio stopped all four of the Corinthians’ efforts that he faced for his eighth clean sheet of the campaign, putting him third in the league, one behind John of Botafogo and two back of Flamengo’s Agustin Rossi for first.

On the Ceara side, Luiz Otavio was sidelined for another encounter on Wednesday, with the club captain still rehabilitating from torn knee ligaments that he suffered last year.

Conde made four changes to his starting 11 for that contest, with Rafael Ramos, Nicolas, Fernando Sobral and Lucas Mugni replacing Fabiano, Matheus Bahia, Lucas Lima and Matheus Araujo.

Cruzeiro possible starting lineup:

Cassio; William, F. Bruno, Villalba, K. Bruno; Romero, Silva; Marquinhos, Pereira, Wanderson; Jorge

Ceara possible starting lineup:

Ferreira; Fabiano, Marllon, Machado, Nicolas; Araujo, Diego; Galeano, Mugni, Henrique; Raul

We say: Cruzeiro 1-0 Ceara

Ceara have held their own in numerous matches this season but lack that quality needed in a tight match, and that may cost them against a side as balanced and organised as Cruzeiro.

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