On Saturday night, Santos host Sao Paulo at the Estadio Cicero Pompeu de Toledo, in a Brazilian Serie A Sao Paulo derby.
Santos are currently third-place in the Brazilian top-flight table, 13 points behind league leaders Flamengo. However, they are 12 points clear of Saturday’s visitors.
The home side is unbeaten in five Serie A outings. In fact, a 3-0 win at Goias in their last league game means that Jorge Sampaoli’s team have recorded four straight win leagues, having also scored at least two goals in their last three outings.
Santos have a strong recent home record in Serie A, winning the last five league matches on home soil. They have also suffered just one home league defeat in their last 16 games in the Brazilian top-flight.
They have been relatively free-scoring of late, scoring at least two goals in four of their last five leagues games on their own patch.
Sao Paulo are currently fifth-place in the Copa Libertadores qualifying round berths. However, the visitors are just four points off the automatic qualification spots for next season’s Copa Libertadores.
A recent poor run of form has stopped the visitors moving into the top-five, as they have lost three of their last four Serie A games. Last time out, Fernando Diniz’s team suffered a 1-0 home defeat against Athletico Paranaense.
Sao Paulo have found goals hard to come by in recent matches, as they have failed to score in those recent three losses.
The visitors have been inconsistent on their travels in the Brazilian top-flight, winning just one of their last five away games in Serie A. A 3-0 defeat at Chapecoense last time out ended a four-game run without an away win in the league.
Forebet predicts that Santos will record a narrow victory in a high-scoring encounter.