Cruzeiro will be looking to pile more pressure on lowly Coritiba when the two sides do battle at the Estadio Raimundo Sampaio on Sunday.
As we head into Matchday 15, ninth-placed Cruzeiro lead 18th-place Coritiba by 11 points, while the visitors find themselves three points inside the relegation zone.
Treino concluído com sucesso! ✅#VamosCoxa📸 Gabriel Thá / Coritiba pic.twitter.com/pZ59hE2tif— Coritiba (@Coritiba) July 11, 2023
Treino concluído com sucesso! ✅#VamosCoxa📸 Gabriel Thá / Coritiba pic.twitter.com/pZ59hE2tif
Can Cruzeiro add to Coritiba’s woes? Or will the relegation strugglers turn things around this weekend? It’s time to take a closer look at both sides.
Let's start with the hosts, Cruzeiro, who enter Sunday’s showdown on a three-game unbeaten streak, having picked up two wins and one draw since their last loss.
Following a 1-0 victory over Sao Paulo, Cruzeiro played out a goalless draw with Internacional before defeating Vasco da Gama 1-0.
As a result, Cruzeiro also head into Matchday 15 on the back of three successive clean sheets, underlining their defensive strength.
Although Cruzeiro have lost four of their last five home league games, they will be confident of triumphing this weekend.
As for Coritiba, they failed to win any of their opening 12 league matches this term, recording four draws and eight losses along the way.
Since then, however, Coritiba have notched back-to-back victories, defeating Goias 2-1 before dispatching America Mineiro 3-1.
Regardless of their recent upturn, there is no hiding the fact that Coritiba have won just two of their previous 26 away league outings.
It is also worth noting that Coritiba have taken four points from a possible 21 on the road this season, conceding 19 goals in the process.
Head-to-head: Across the past nine Serie A meetings, both sides have claimed four wins, sharing a single draw along the way.
Interestingly, the away side in this fixture has only managed to win one of the last 15 Serie A meetings. Needless to say, that does not bode well for Coritiba.
Team news: Cruzeiro’s injury list features right-back Wesley Gasolina (ankle), winger Rafael Bilu (Achilles) and midfielder Ramiro (ligament).
On the flip side, Coritiba will be without Boschilia this weekend as the attacking midfielder continues to recover from a hamstring injury.
Although Coritiba have upped their game in recent weeks, Cruzeiro should be able to get the better of the relegation strugglers on this occasion.
With that in mind, Forebet predicts that Cruzeiro will score over 1.5 goals on their way to overcoming Coritiba.