Preview: Fortaleza vs. Atletico Mineiro - prediction, team news, lineups

Atletico Mineiro will be hoping to keep the pressure on at the top of the Brasileiro when they make the trip to Fortaleza on Saturday.

While the visitors currently sit in fourth place, the hosts can overtake their opponents with three points, providing plenty for each team to play for.

Match preview

© Reuters

Fortaleza have had a strong start to the new campaign, losing only two of their 11 games up to this point, which has allowed them to progress into eighth place.

After three matches in a row without a win, Juan Pablo Vojvoda's men got their season back on track during their most recent outing by securing a win against Cruzeira.

The team left things late to achieve that though with Juan Martin Lucero scoring the only goal of the game which took place in the 80th minute.

However, the ability to push until the very end is something that Fortaleza will be aiming to retain in this game as they compete against one of the strongest teams in the division.

Vojvoda's team have not been quite as strong in away games throughout this season, but with a victory potentially allowing them to climb as high as third this weekend there is plenty of incentive to push themselves.

© Reuters

The visitors are currently sat in fourth and have also had a great start to the season, losing just twice at this stage as they now sit only five points behind the top of the table.

Atletico Mineiro will be hoping to kick on now and keep the pressure on those above them to ensure that they remain in contention as close as possible.

The team does head into this game on the back of a four-match unbeaten streak, but they have also failed to win in their previous two matches.

Both of those have finished in 1-1 draws, and a big reason for those struggles has been a lack of goals as Atletico Mineiro have only scored one in each of their past four matches.

That run has added plenty of pressure on the defense as the need for clean sheets has been high, and that is why the pressure will rise on the attacking players this weekend.

Team News

© Reuters

After scoring the winner from the bench in Fortaleza's most recent match, Lucero will be hoping to force his way into the starting lineup this time around.

Guilherme Augusto remains a doubt heading into this match as he has yet to be cleared from a concussion he suffered earlier this month, leading to question marks over when he will be available once again.

The visitors are likely to be relying upon the experience of Hulk at the top end of the pitch as he aims to bring his physicality to the game.

Meanwhile, Eduardo Vargas could be an option to bring back into the team after he was dropped to the bench in midweek.

Fortaleza possible starting lineup:

Ricardo; Tinga, Britez, Titi, Pacheco; Pochettino, Hercules, Alexandre, Romarinho; Galhardo, Lucero

Atletico Mineiro possible starting lineup:

Everson; Mariano, Lemos, Jemerson, Rubens; Battaglia, Zaracho; Pavon, Paulinho, Gomes; Hulk

We say: Fortaleza 2-1 Atletico Mineiro

This will likely be a cagey match between two teams who have made a strong start to the season, but Fortaleza will head in as the favourites due to their performances overall.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.