Santos head into their 12th match of the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A campaign still searching for their first victory away from home as they travel to Estadio Alfredo Jaconi for a date with Juventude on Tuesday.
The club from Caxias do Sul are second from the bottom, but only two points below the relegation zone, while Santos have dropped down to 10th, without a win in six consecutive domestic encounters.
Match preview
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With nearly a third of the season complete, Eduardo Baptista has not been able to find a solution to his team's woes as they only fired two efforts on target in a 2-0 defeat at Corinthians this past weekend.
Currently, they lead the league in goals conceded (19) and are struggling to maintain a solid shape or close down those spaces in the final third.
It does not seem to make a difference whether they are at home or away when you see the final results, as a lack of consistency from one match to another has proven to be their undoing.
Juve have points in four of their seven previous domestic encounters versus Santos, wining this exact fixture last year by a convincing 3-0 score.
The Southern Brazilians only have themselves to blame for their current predicament, squandering ample opportunities to climb up the Brasileiro table, having lost nine points from winning positions in 2022.
Combine that with the fact that they have only captured one victory in four matches against the teams currently sitting in the bottom five league positions, and it explains a lot as to why they are in danger of going back down into Serie B.
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Santos continue to work their socks off and earn points, collecting four draws in their last five league games, with their latest coming on Saturday, scoring a late equaliser to draw the reigning Brazilian champions Atletico Mineiro 1-1.
Tactically, they have been a challenging side to get past, as Fabian Bustos has moulded them into a well-drilled, physically fit side who are rarely caught out of position.
They have only conceded multiple goals on two occasions in this domestic campaign, but unfortunately, Santos have struggled to find consistent quality in the final third, tallying a goal or fewer in all but two of their domestic fixtures since May.
For the first time in the 2022 Brasileiro Serie A campaign, Santastico managed to pick up some points on Saturday after conceding first, drawing the top defensive unit in the league last year.
The relentless effort and work rate among all the players has been evident since Bustos took over, however, technically speaking, there is still work to do.
Sitting in 10th may appear to be a comfortable position, but the margins are still pretty thin as Peixe are only four points above relegation, so another slip-up could prove costly.
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Team News
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Ricardo Bueno scored the winner for Juventude last year in their home clash versus Santos, while Capixaba assisted on the third goal.
Felipe Alves is not expected back until early July because of a calf issue, Kelvi has a broken ankle and Elton remains doubtful due to a knee injury.
Oscar Ruiz leads them in goals this season with three, Busanello has the most assists for them thus far (two) and Jadson scored his first of the year in their previous home fixture versus Athletico Paranaense, which they lost 3-1.
Rwan Seco found the back of the net for the second time domestically, helping Santos to a 1-1 draw versus Mineiro, while leading goalscorer Marcos Leonardo is without a goal in his last two games.
Leo Baptistao could miss a few weeks with a muscle strain, Kevin Malthus is out until late June due to an ACL injury and Lucas Pires will not be available for this encounter following his red card on Saturday.
We saw two changes to the Santos starting 11 over the weekend, with Sandry and Lucas Braga replacing Baptistao and Ricardo Goulart.
Juventude possible starting lineup:
Cesar; Matheus, Forster, Mendes, Miranda; Darlan, Yuri, Jadson, Edinho; Ruiz, Pitta
Santos possible starting lineup:
Paulo; Jonatan, Bauermann, Maicon, Madson; Fernandez, Camacho; Braga, Zanocelo, Seco; Leonardo
We say: Juventude 0-1 Santos
At the moment, these sides are separated by nine places in the table, and although that margin is a mere four points, Santos have more structure and organisation than Juventude, so we expect the home side will struggle to break down the defensive set-up of Peixe.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
