The Brazilian top flight action continues on Sunday afternoon and features this upcoming clash between Athletico PR and their visitors, Sao Paulo, when the two teams meet at the Arena da Baixada with a valuable three points up for grabs for both sides.
Athletico PR currently occupy 5th place in the Serie A standings and the hosts find themselves just one point adrift of 4th placed Atletico Mineiro and the top four pack which brings the promise of automatic qualification for next season’s Libertadores competition.
However, despite their current lofty position in the Brazilian top flight, Athletico PR have managed to capture just one win out of their last four matches overall, which came in the form of a comprehensive 4-1 rout of relegation threatened Atletico GO.
But the hosts have also been handed recent defeats as well.
Losses incurred against Goias and Botafogo, both of which were away from home, have prevented the hosts from moving into the top four of the Serie A table.
But having put together an eight-match unbeaten run at home, Athletico PR will be confident they can take something from this encounter.
Onto Sao Paulo and the visitors sit in a mid-table position of 10th place on the Serie A ladder.
But the away side have more or less been treading water in recent weeks as they have been involved in a number of draws lately.
Five stalemates within their last six matches overall have seen Sao Paulo pick up important points in draws with Juventude, Atletico Mineiro, Fluminense, Internacional and Goias, while also picking up a valuable three-point haul away from home at Atletico GO in a 2-1 victory.
Despite the lack of wins lately though, Sao Paulo have at least made themselves a tough unit to beat in the domestic top flight as the visitors have lost just twice in their last 17 matches which were defeats to Botafogo and Palmeiras, while the draw has featured prominently.
Sao Paulo have been involved in no fewer than 11 draws within these last 17 games in Serie A and indeed the visitors have drawn the most number of matches so far in this season’s campaign.
The visitors have lost just one of their last nine away matches while drawing seven of these, so the draw looks a distinct possibility on Sunday.