Vila Nova welcome Bahia to Estadio OBA on Tuesday for the first leg of their Copa do Brasil third round clash.
Vila Nova head into Tuesday’s match having produced a 1-1 draw with Botafogo in the first game of their 2021 Serie B campaign.
⚽️ TIGRÃO NA FRENTE! Golaço de Willian Formiga aos 07’ do segundo tempo.Placar parcial: Vila Nova 1 x 0 Botafogo pic.twitter.com/cngK6SumRS— Vila Nova F.C (@VilaNovaFC) May 29, 2021
⚽️ TIGRÃO NA FRENTE! Golaço de Willian Formiga aos 07’ do segundo tempo.Placar parcial: Vila Nova 1 x 0 Botafogo pic.twitter.com/cngK6SumRS
Before that, Villa Nova suffered an agonising penalty shootout defeat to Gremio Anapolis in the Campeonato Goiano final.
After drawing both legs 1-1, Vila Nova lost 5-4 on penalties, despite dominating the tie over the course of the two legs.
Of course, it is still early days in the new season. But let’s not forget that Vila Nova were promoted from Serie C last term.
They finished third in their group having lost just three of their 18 matches – scoring 25 goals while conceding only 14.
In the final, Vila Nova crushed Remo 8-3 on aggregate, with a 5-1 victory in the first leg and a 3-2 win in the second.
They will now be hoping to pick up where they left off last year and carry their momentum into the new campaign.
On the flip side, Bahia finished fourteenth in Serie A last season – just three points clear of the relegation zone.
It is also worth noting that Bahia finished the previous campaign with the third-worst defensive record in the division, having conceded 59 goals in 38 games.
However, Bahia have started the new season on a positive note, with a 3-0 victory over Santos coming on Sunday.
Despite seeing just 34% possession, Bahia scored with their only three shots on target, with Thaciano bagging a three-minute brace just after half-time.
Looking at the bigger picture, Bahia have only won one of their last three games in all competitions, as well as two of their previous five.
Head-to-head: The two sides have faced each other 11 times since 2004. Bahia have won six games, while Vila Nova have only won two. The other three matches were drawn.
Bahia have only lost one of their previous five meeting with Vila Nova, while five of the last six games have produced under 2.5 goals.
Team news: Interestingly, neither Vila Nova nor Bahia have any injury concerns heading into Tuesday’s clash.
Given that Vila Nova were playing Serie C football just a few months ago, top-flight Bahia are expected to claim an easy win on Tuesday.
Forebet predicts that Bahia will keep a clean sheet on their way to victory. Once again, under 2.5 goals are likely to be score.