Looking to continue their perfect start to the Brasileiro campaign, Athletico Paranaense travel to take on Gremio on Sunday.
Two wins from their opening two games saw the visitors move to the top end of the league, while Gremio suffered a narrow 3-2 defeat to Ceara in their only game of the domestic season so far.
Match preview
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Gremio suffered a narrow defeat in their opening Brasileiro game of the season, as they travelled to take on Ceara.
The hosts took a two-goal lead through Cleber and Rick, but Gremio levelled the game through Vanderson and Ricardinho, and it looked set to end 2-2 until Jorginho restored Ceara's lead in the 94th minute to cruelly snatch all three points.
However, they did bounce back with an aggregate victory over Brasiliense in the third round of the Copa do Brasil.
Ricardinho and Jean Pyerre secured a 2-0 victory in the home leg, and the Imortal Tricolor held on for a goalless draw in the second leg to see them through.
After a somewhat disappointing sixth-placed finish last season, Gremio will look to improve this campaign, and they will hope to secure their first win sooner rather than later to quickly establish themselves at the top end of the division.
Their opponents will be looking for their third win in as many league games, having made a strong start to the domestic season.
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Athletico Paranaense started their league campaign with a narrow 1-0 home win over America MG, as Carlos Eduardo came off the bench to net the only goal of the game in the 87th minute, snatching all three points for his side.
They then picked up a much more comfortable victory in their second Brasileiro outing, defeating Juventude 3-0 away from home thanks to a Jadson brace and a late Nikao goal.
Meanwhile, El Paranaense also advanced to the fourth round of the Copa do Brasil, defeating Avai over two legs.
They picked up a 1-1 draw in the away leg, as Renato Kayser's opener was cancelled out by a Jonathan equaliser for the hosts, before the Rubro-Negro won the home leg 1-0 to advance thanks to a Vitinho goal inside the first minute.
Having made an impressive start to the Brasileiro campaign as well as remaining in the cup competitions, Paulo Autuori's side will be desperate to continue their strong run and record their third league victory of the campaign on Sunday.
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Team News
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The Gremio line will be led by Ricardinho, who has netted nine goals in his last 17 appearances in all competitions.
He should be supported by the attacking threat of wingers Leo Pereira and Leo Chu, with both exciting players still looking to get going for the season.
Meanwhile, Lucas Silva, Matheus Henrique and Thiago dos Santos should line up in front of the back four of Vanderson, Pedro Geromel, Ruan Tressoldi and Diogo Goiano.
Jadson should lead the line for Athletico Paranaense, having netted a brace in their last league outing.
He should be deployed alongside target man Matheus Babi, while Carlos Eduardo and Fernando Canesin will offer threat from the wide areas.
Gremio possible starting lineup:
Brenno; Vanderson, Tressoldi, Geromel, Goiana; Silva, Henrique, Dos Santos; Chu, Ricardinho, Pereira
Athletico Paranaense possible starting lineup:
Santos; Marcinho, Ivaldo, Heleno, Vichiatto; Canesin, Cittadini, Alvarado, Eduardo; Babi, Jadson
We say: Gremio 1-2 Athletico Paranaense
Given their strong start to the league season, we fancy Athletico Paranaense to record their third straight win on Sunday.
Although Gremio are bound to bounce back from their opening defeat, we would not be surprised to see them fall short at home to a side with plenty of confidence.
Top tip
Sam Varley
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 Gremio win with a probability of 54.99%. A draw had a probability of 24.9% and a win for Athletico Paranaense had a probability of 20.06%.
The most likely scoreline for a Gremio win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.62%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.95%) and 2-1 (9.42%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.72%), while for an Athletico Paranaense win it was 0-1 (7.3%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 7.3% likelihood.
