In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Santos and Athletico PR go head-to-head as Matchday 28 of the Brazilian Serie A campaign gets underway.
As it stands, Athletico PR find themselves sixth in the table – one point shy of the Copa Libertadores places and 13 points behind first-place Palmeiras.
On the flip side, Santos find themselves eleventh – six points clear of the relegation zone and ten points behind Athletico PR.
Santos have failed to win any of their past four Serie A games, picking up a draw before suffering three consecutive defeats.
When you look at the bigger picture, the hosts have only managed to win one of their previous six league games.
On a brighter note, Santos have lost just three of their last 17 home games in Serie A – highlighting their strength on home soil.
Given that only two sides – Ceara and Sao Paulo – have registered more draws than Santos’ ten this season, another draw is on the cards here.
As for Athletico, they head into Matchday 28 on a five-game unbeaten streak in Serie A. That said, they have recorded four draws and one win in that time.
Thanks to an impressive run in the Copa Libertadores, Athletico are currently enjoying a seven-game unbeaten run across all competitions.
Better still, Athletico have suffered just three defeats in their past 21 outings. Needless to say, that is not good news for Santos.
Given the high number of drawn games involving Athletico of late, they could struggle to get the better of Santos.
Head-to-head: The recent head-to-head record between Santos and Athletico is relatively even, with four Santos wins, four Athletico wins and two draws coming in the past ten meetings.
Ten of the previous 13 meetings between Santos and Athletico have produced under 2.5 goals, meaning this clash is destined to be a low-scoring affair.
Team news: Santos will be without injured Uruguayan midfielder Rodrigo Fernandez for the visit of Athletico.
As for Athletico, they look set to be without three injured players this week – Julimar, Marcelo Cirino and Reinaldo.
Santos have drawn 37% of their league games this season, while Athletico have drawn four of their previous five. All the signs point towards a draw here.
Due to the low-scoring history of this fixture, Forebet predicts that Santos and Athletico will play out a dull draw – with both sides netting under 1.5 goals.