The Brazil Serie A season is just seven matches old but Bahia have already strung together 13 points from a possible 21. Manager Roger Machado will hope his side can continue its great form on Saturday when it travels to Ceara.
The home team currently sit in eleventh place with nine points. After a sluggish start to the Serie A season, Ceara have got on track in recent weeks winning two of their last three matches.
Ceara are coming off of a 1-0 home loss to Santos, but they will feel confident of a good performance at home thanks to their impressive +6-goal difference at the Vovozao Stadium.
Bahia are undefeated in four of their last five matches. Three of those fixtures ended in victories for the club. Bahia have outscored their opponents 5-2 during that four-match unbeaten run.
Machado’s team is defensively orientated. Bahia have allowed just eight goals. Meanwhile, three of their four unbeaten matches saw them keep clean sheets. Goals have been a slight issue for Bahia as they have only found the back of the net 10 times in seven games.
Bahia’s away form is worrying as they have picked up just one point from a possible nine on their travels. The good news is their most recent away fixture against Sao Paulo ended in a nil-nil draw.
Ceara’s Vovozao ground has been far from a fortress. Manager Enderson Moreira has seen his team obtain just six points from a possible 12. Ceara do not allow many goals at home but since their first game of the season on their ground, they haven’t scored many times at the Vovozao.
Bahia has a fantastic record against Ceara in all competitions. The Tricolor are unbeaten in nine of 14 matches in all competitions dating back to 2009.
Last season, Bahia won both Serie A matches against Ceara. Their first fixture played at the Vovzao ended in a 2-0 victory for Bahia. Three months later, Bahia picked up a second victory, 2-1, at home.
Ceara do have capable goal scorers in Ricardo Bueno and Thiago Galhardo. The duo has scored three goals apiece. Bahia’s leading goal scorer is Arthur who has found the back of the net three times as well.
Despite Ceara improving and posting a good home record, Bahia will once again come away with a victory. Bahia have been good historically against Ceara and will once again pick up a victory.
Ceara have seen three of their four home matches end with over 2.5 goals scored this season while two of three Bahia away matches have finished in over 2.5 goals scored.
Expect goals to go into the back of the nets as Bahia pick up another valuable three points in the race for the Serie A top four.