Cuiaba and Bahia are separated by three points in the Brazilian Serie A table ahead of their clash at Arena Pantanal on Saturday.
Cuiaba find themselves 13th – three points shy of the top 12 – while 15th-placed Bahia sit one point clear of the relegation zone.
A quarta-feira finalizada ✅ pic.twitter.com/TKmzaw1xqQ— Cuiabá Esporte Clube (@CuiabaEC) July 5, 2023
A quarta-feira finalizada ✅ pic.twitter.com/TKmzaw1xqQ
As we head into Matchday 14, both sides will be eager to steer clear of the bottom four and enhance their chances of securing continental football for next season.
Cuiaba ended a three-game winless run with a 3-0 victory over Santos last time out, racking up 15 attempts while limiting the visitors to two shots on target.
Following back-to-back 1-0 losses against Botafogo and Vasco da Gama, last weekend’s victory came as a welcome break from the winless stretch.
In terms of the bigger picture, Cuiaba have managed to win just four of their 13 league matches this season, recording three draws and six losses.
It is also worth noting that Cuiaba have picked up a solitary victory in six home league games this year, recording two draws and three defeats along the way.
As for Bahia, they suffered a 2-1 defeat against Gremio last time out, meaning they enter Saturday’s clash on the back of successive losses.
To make matters worse for Bahia, they have managed to win just one of their previous nine Serie A clashes, recording three draws and five defeats in the process.
Possessing a record of three wins, three draws and seven losses, Bahia will need to up their game if they are to climb the standings.
Bahia will also need to improve on the road, as they have managed to win only one of their six away league outings in 2023, suffering four defeats.
Head-to-head: Cuiaba and Bahia produced two draws during the 2021 Serie A campaign, drawing 1-1 before playing out a goalless stalemate.
With that in mind, Saturday’s clash will likely be a close-fought battle with limited goals, given that neither side has dominated the other in recent times.
Team news: Cuiaba’s injury list contains Uendel (knee), Filipe Augusto (hamstring) and Lucas Mineiro (meniscus).
On the flip side, Bahia currently have Raul Gustavo (knee), Marcos Victor (knee), Matheus Bahia (hamstring) and Yago Felipe (muscle) on the sidelines.
When you couple the current standings with Cuiaba and Bahia’s recent head-to-head record, all the signs point towards another low-scoring draw.
For that reason, Forebet predicts that Cuiaba and Bahia will cancel each other out on Saturday, with both teams netting under 1.5 goals.