Thursday evening also brings us domestic cup action from South America as the Copa do Brasil has reached the quarter-final stage and features this all-Serie A clash between hosts, Fortaleza, and visitors, Fluminense, with the two sides battling it out for an advantage in this 1st leg tie at the Estádio Governador Plácido Aderaldo Castelo.
Fortaleza progressed through the Copa do Brasil round of 16 thanks to a 2-1 aggregate win against Ceara which was largely due to a 1st leg 2-0 home win and although they lost 1-0 away to Ceara in the return leg, Fortaleza held on to take their place in the quarter-finals.
The hosts had previously breezed through their 2nd round tie against Serie C outfit, Vitoria, by recording a convincing 4-0 win on aggregate over their third tier opponents.
But results overall in recent times have been a little disappointing.
Fortaleza have won just one of their last nine games in all competitions, while each of their last 12 home games have all seen under 3 goals scored.
Fluminense look to be the better equipped to not only gain a result in this 1st leg tie on Thursday evening but also progress through to the semi-finals stage of this season’s Copa do Brasil.
As the visitors have put together a solid looking 10-match unbeaten run in all competitions.
Furthermore, Fluminense have picked up no fewer than eight wins in the process and the visitors perhaps look the more likely to make something happen in the final third against their hosts, Fortaleza.
However, as we have seen on numerous occasions before, cup ties can be a great leveller.
And although the visitors have lost just once in their last 11 outings on the road in all competitions, seven of these 11 matches also resulted in under 2.5 goals being scored.
Fluminense have also been fairly unconvincing in previous Copa do Brasil cup ties on the road as they have lost five of their last seven away games in this competition, so they may well be happy to settle for a draw in this 1st leg.
Each of the previous seven meetings between Fortaleza and Fluminense have resulted in under 2.5 goals and this upcoming 1st leg tie could also be no exception as neither side will want to enter the return leg being behind.