The Classico Alvinegro rivalry between Corinthians and Santos will be renewed on Wednesday as both sides face off at Corinthians Arena in the first leg of their Round of 16 Copa do Brasil clash.
Timao won the previous fixture last season versus Peixe 2-0 in front of their home supporters, and this will be the first of two meetings in a week between these teams.
Match preview
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After a shock defeat in the third round a season ago to Atletico Goianiense, 2-0 on aggregate, Corinthians are back in the last 16 of this competition, but their journey was by no means a cakewalk.
Vitor Pereira saw his team concede an opening goal to Cafu after a minute of play as Serie D side Portuguesa RJ drew them 1-1 in their home fixture.
Thankfully for Corinthians, leg two was much smoother, as they scored two first-half goals to come away with the 2-0 victory to advance to this point.
That could serve as a wake-up call for them to never take a side for granted, which might help them on Wednesday, seeing as Santos are seven points behind Time do Povo domestically.
Corinthians have played splendidly at home this year, without a defeat in 15 consecutive matches in all competitions, collecting 10 clean sheets over that time.
So far in this domestic campaign, they have conceded the second-fewest goals in Serie A (10) thanks to some aggressive defending, which has effectively closed off a lot of space in their penalty area, forcing other teams to make poor decisions.
Most of the chances created by Corinthians have resulted from their double-pivot midfielders, who push high up the field, using a man-oriented system that has worked well.
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Fabian Bustos has been forced to come up with some innovative formulas to keep his Santos team competitive, and he was able to do that this weekend as they drew Bragantino 2-2, earning a point in five successive games.
The 53-year-old Argentine coach did not have a right-back at his disposal for that match because of injuries and suspensions, so he put forward Lucas Braga on defence.
While they conceded seven shots on target and let two leads slip away, generally speaking Santos have been well-organised and structured in a lot of fixtures recently, allowing multiple goals in only two of their previous 13 matches played in all competitions.
Santos have reacted well when suffering a setback throughout the season, picking up six points this month when facing a second-half deficit.
They needed that resilience in the Copa do Brasil, levelling that match at 1-1 with fewer than 10 minutes remaining against Fluminense Pl, winning 5-4 in a shootout, and beating Coritiba 3-0 in their third-round second-leg encounter after losing the opener 1-0.
Looking at the current run Corinthians are on might be intimidating for a lot of teams to think about heading into such a big game, but Santos were also the last side to beat them on their home field, coming back from a goal down to win 2-1 at the Campeonato Paulista in February.
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Team News
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Jo, who had his contract with Corinthians terminated this month, notched the equaliser in their opening third-round encounter against Portuguesa RJ, while goals from Junior Moraes and Giuliano helped them win the second matchup and advance to the round of 16 as Cassio and Ivan both got some playing time in goal, earning a clean sheet.
Fabio Santos picked up his first goal of the domestic campaign on Sunday, as they moved into second place in the table, while Roger Guedes, who leads them with four tallies in league play this season, is searching for his first of this competition.
Roni missed their last match on Sunday, while several players could be out of this fixture because of injuries, such as Junior Moraes (illness), Maycon (muscle injury), Joao Victor (sprained ankle), Luan (hip), Paulinho (ACL) and Ruan (ACL).
Marcos Leonardo, Madson and Rodrigo Fernandez all scored for Santos to help them reverse their 1-0 deficit versus Coritiba.
Ricardo Goulart rescued them in the second round, scoring in the 82nd minute to send that match to penalties, where Lucas Pires put home the winner.
Maicon is out until early July with a thigh problem, Madson has a muscle issue and Kevin Malthus continues to recover from an ACL injury.
Corinthians possible starting lineup:
Cassio; Ramos, Bambu, Gustavo, Santos; Queiroz, Xavier; Adson, Giuliano, Mantuan; Guedes
Santos possible starting lineup:
Paulo; Braga, Kaiky, Reis, Pires; Fernandez, Camacho; Baptistao, Goulart, Julio; Leonardo
We say: Corinthians 2-1 Santos
Playing without a naturalised defender may have worked for Bustos against Bragantino, but they still allowed some scoring opportunities, while benefitting from the fact that Braga leave many gaps behind their fullbacks.
Peixe can expect less time in the final third against a Corinthians squad who close you down quickly and tend to capitalise on their opportunities.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
