Reigning champions Flamengo will be looking to make it two wins from two to begin their Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A campaign when they face America Mineiro on Sunday.
The Scarlet-Black beat Palmeiras in their opening league game, while their next opponents have lost their first two games without scoring.
Match preview
© Reuters
Flamengo retained their title last season by finishing a point above Internacional in a tight battle at the top of the division.
Rogerio Ceni's side will be out to make it three in a row this time around, and they made a bright start to their campaign last time out.
Pedro's strike 15 minutes from time proved to be the difference in their 1-0 win over Palmeiras, which has since been followed up with a 1-0 win at Coritiba in the Copa do Brasil.
America Mineiro were knocked out of the same competition on penalties by Criciuma in midweek following a 2-2 draw at the end of extra time.
That makes it four games without a win in all competitions this season for the Coelho, though not a lot is expected of them having only recently earned promotion.
Lisca's men lost 1-0 to Athletico Paranaense in their first game back at this level in three years and lost by the same scoreline at home to Corinthians last time out.
That leaves them in the relegation zone early on in the campaign, while Flamengo are eighth but can move level at the top should they win their game in hand.
Sunday's match at the Maracana will be the first meeting between the sides since August 2018 when playing out a 2-2 draw.
That ended a seven-game winning run for Flamengo in this fixture, and the Scarlet-Black are the strong favourites to come out on top in this latest encounter.
- W
- D
- D
- W
- D
- W
- W
- L
- L
- D
- D
- L
- D
- L
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Flamengo are in action for the 11th time since the start of last month, but Ceni has near enough a full squad to choose from, with Rene, Thiago Maia and Cesar the only players who have been sidelined of late.
After overcoming Coritiba in the cup in midweek, the hosts could field a similar lineup to the one that started against Palmeiras a couple of weeks ago in the league.
Pedro scored the winner in that one and is expected to keep Rodrigo Muniz out of the starting lineup here.
As for the visitors, they are monitoring the fitness of Marcelo Toscano, Gustavinho, Luiz Fernando and Joao Paulo.
After firing blanks in their opening two league games, a change may be considered in attack, which could see Rodolfo's place in the side come under threat.
Flamengo possible starting lineup:
Alves; Isla, Arao, Caio, Luis; Gerson, Diego; Ribeiro, Arrascaeta, Henrique; Pedro
America Mineiro possible starting lineup:
Cavichioli; Diego, Anderson, Bauermann, Marlon; Juninho, Ale, Ricardo, Azevedo; Ademir; Rodolfo
We say: Flamengo 2-0 America Mineiro
The games are coming thick and fast for Flamengo in all competitions, but they are unbeaten in 14 matches and will fancy their chances of extending that run this weekend.
America Mineiro could do with a point, though anything other than a routine defeat at the Maracana is unlikely.
Top tip
Daniel Lewis
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 Flamengo win with a probability of 62.29%. A draw had a probability of 21.5% and a win for America Mineiro had a probability of 16.23%.
The most likely scoreline for a Flamengo win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.8%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (11.37%) and 2-1 (9.85%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.21%), while for an America Mineiro win it was 0-1 (5.3%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with an 11.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Flamengo would win this match.
