We have some fantastic games to look forward to in the Brazilian Serie A this week, one of which takes place at the Estádio Raimundo Sampaio on the 4th of September. Atlético Mineiro welcome São Paulo with the hosts in 5th place on 9 points and the visitors in 2nd place on 13 points, all be it having played a game more.
Atlético Mineiro saw their previous game postponed due to the fact they were playing in the Mineiro 1 final. The final was played over two legs against Tombense and Atlético Mineiro won both matches, including the second leg on the weekend 1-0 away from home. Atlético Mineiro will be pleased to have secured those victories having suffered two straight defeats in Serie A.
Both of the losses came away from home, with defeats at Botafogo and Internacional. However, prior to those two results, Atlético Mineiro enjoyed a good start to the Brazilian Serie A season, winning their opening 3 matches.
Two of those 3 victories came at home and Atlético Mineiro have won 5 of their last 6 Serie A games on home soil. They are often entertaining to watch at the Estádio Raimundo Sampaio, scoring 2 or more goals in each of their last 4 home Serie A games.
São Paulo come into the game having recorded a good 2-1 win over Corinthians last weekend. Having taken the lead early in the match, Corinthians scored the equaliser close to half time. However, São Paulo continued pressing until the end of the game and managed to score the winning goal in the 90th minute.
That result means São Paulo have one each of their last 3 Serie A games, with the additional victories coming away against Sport Recife and at home over Athletico Paranaense. In fact, São Paulo are undefeated in their last 4 Serie A matches, having also picked up a draw against Bahia at home.
Trends show São Paulo have been inconsistent away from home in recent games, winning 3 and losing 3 in all competitions. Defensively, they have managed to keep only one clean sheet in their 5 most recent away games but have found the back of the net themselves in each of their last 3 matches on the road.
Looking ahead to the team news and Atlético Mineiro still have several players struggling with injury. Diego Tardelli, Bruno Silva, Uilson, and Nathan Allan De Souza are among the doubts. Gustavo Blanco is back in training following a knee injury.
São Paulo could be without two players as Walce da Silva and Joao Rojas are struggling to make it.
This should be a very closely fought contest but a game in which both teams could find the back of the net. However, it would not be a surprise to see the game and level, with 1-1 a potential final result.