In the early hours of Sunday morning (GMT), Fluminense hosts struggling Gremio at the Maracana in the Brazilian Serie A.
The two teams look set to have very different aims for the campaign already in top-flight, despite the campaign only being in its infancy.
Fluminense are seventh-place in the table after a slightly inconsistent recent run of form in the Brazilian top-flight. The Copa Libertadores spots are not yet out of the reach, as they are four points outside the top four.
A recent three-game unbeaten run in Serie A suggests that Fluminense’s form may be turning for the better. The home team has also conceded just once in their previous three league matches, which is also a positive.
However, Roger Machado’s team has failed to win in three home matches in the Brazilian top-flight. Their recent games on home soil have been low-scoring affairs, as eight of their last ten matches have produced under 2.5 goals.
Fluminense keeping eight clean sheets in the same run of games has been a big factor in those low-scoring matches.
Gremio have endured a woeful start to their Serie A campaign and currently sit rock bottom of the Serie A table, having picked up just three points from their opening nine league matches.
The visitors are already six points shy of the team in 16th place in the table. The team from Porto Alegre does have two games in hand on most of the teams directly around them, though.
One of the biggest factors in Gremio’s poor campaign so far has been a lack of goals, as they have scored just four league goals this season. The visitors have also failed to score in their last five league outings.
Forebet predicts that Fluminense will strengthen their chances of mounting a realistic challenge for a top-four spot this season by recording a victory in a low-scoring encounter.