Cruzeiro come into their match on Tuesday at Minerao needing a victory versus Fluminense for a shot of advancing to the quarter-finals of the Copa do Brasil.
The record six-time winners of this tournament were narrowly beaten 2-1 in the opening leg, putting Flu in a solid position to qualify for the last eight for a second successive campaign.
Match preview
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Top-flight football next season is the clear objective for Cruzeiro, and in the first leg, Raposa got a taste of what they could be up against, should they be able to earn promotion.
They are well on their way to doing that, leading Serie B with 38 points after 17 games, despite going winless in their last two league fixtures.
As impressive as Celeste have looked through much of the domestic campaign, their first match against Fluminense showed that they will have a lot of work to do if they are to be a dominant team in the Brazilian top-flight in future seasons.
To no surprise, they rarely had the ball against Flu, having to sustain plenty of pressure throughout the 90 minutes, with only 31% possession, while firing one shot on target.
Their overall numbers in that match did not look encouraging when compared to what we saw from Nense, but Paulo Pezzolano has always been able to count on a resilient group, who have not suffered consecutive defeats in this domestic campaign.
Playing in front of their home fans has proven to be a big advantage, as they hold a 100% record domestically at Mineirao this year, posting a clean sheet in seven of their eight contests.
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Fluminense come into their second matchup with Cruzeiro in a slightly unfamiliar position, having an opening-leg advantage for the first time at this tournament since 2015.
Fernando Diniz has them on quite the run at the moment, winning five consecutive fixtures in all competitions, unbeaten in their last six games and posting consecutive clean sheets away from home in league play.
As good as things are looking for them at the moment, Flu will come into this upcoming match cautiously optimistic, seeing as it has been over a decade since they defeated Cabuloso on their home field, 2-1 back in 2011.
A pressing system which can seem relentless at times allows them to have the bulk of the possession in most of their encounters, but they still defend aggressively and effectively off the ball as well, conceding the third-fewest goals to this point of the Serie A campaign (15).
While leading a tie at this tournament is something new for them, Flu have shown the ability to effectively hold a lead over 90 minutes, winning six straight matches in all competitions when tallying first.
Since their 3-2 domestic defeat at Coritiba at the beginning of May, Flu have maintained a 100% record in every game in which they have scored multiple goals, including on Saturday when they edged Ceara 2-1.
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Team News
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Lucas Oliveira had the only goal for Cruzeiro in their opening leg defeat versus Flu, his first of the competition, with Machado collecting an assist on that play.
Edu has four goals to lead all players in this tournament, his former teammate Vitor Roque, now at Athletico Paranaense, had three, while Rafael Silva, Daniel Junior and Fernando Canesin all have one assist.
Raposa will be without Geovane Jesus following his red card in the opening leg, while there were only a few players who kept their place in the starting lineup in each of their last two domestic encounters, including Rafael Cabral, Eduardo Brock, Oliveira and Edu.
Manoel put home his first of the competition for Fluminense in the first meeting with Cruzeiro, while German Cano is tied for second in goals at this tournament, notching his third which stood up as the game-winner.
Fabio has stopped a total of five shots in his previous two road games, both of which ended in clean sheets, as he is tied with Cassio for the most in Serie A at the moment (seven).
Paulo Henrique Ganso will be seeking a little redemption at Mineirao this week after he was one of three players to miss from the penalty spot in their exit from this competition versus Cabuloso in 2019.
Luan Freitas might be at least another week away from being fully fit and recovered from his knee issue, while David Braz is not expected to be ready until early August after previously suffering a thigh injury.
Cruzeiro possible starting lineup:
Cabral; Brock, Oliveira, Ivaldo; Santos, Machado, Willian, Adriano; Rodolfo, Edu, Leque
Fluminense possible starting lineup:
Fabio; Pineida, Nino, Manoel, Paulista; Andre, Nonato; Araujo, Ganso, Arias; Cano
We say: Cruzeiro 1-2 Fluminense
Cruzeiro managed to give themselves a chance in the opening leg, and they should get some energy early on from the home crowd, which will likely increase their confidence.
Unfortunately for the home side, Fluzao have more than enough poise and composure to handle what could be a challenging environment, plus they possess a variety of weapons capable of stepping up and producing, so we expect Fluzao to make it through.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
