Sao Paulo vs Palmeiras
Brasileiro Serie A
Date: Saturday, 27th May 2017
Kick-off at 23:00 UK
Venue: Estádio do Morumbi, São Paulo.
The “Choque-Rei” derby takes place on Saturday night, as Palmeiras make the journey to Sao Paulo’s Estádio do Morumbi. Whilst the clash is not quite as big as the city’s main derby between the visitors and Corinthians, the sides unquestionably hold a deep dislike for one another.
Whilst Palmeiras’ players will be the least welcome of those on the pitch come game time, Sao Paulo’s own aren’t exactly held in the highest regard by their fans at the moment. Prior to top flight action beginning, “Tricolor” put in some terrible performances, seeing them crash out of the Campeonato Paulista at the hands of rivals Corinthians, the Copa do Brasil and most embarrassingly, at the first hurdle in the Copa Sudamericana to Argentine minnows Defensa y Justicia.
You do feel that if the man in the hotseat was anyone other than legendary goalkeeper Rogério Ceni then a change would have been made prior to the league’s beginning, but his status at the club should see him given plenty of time to improve upon the side’s 10th place finish last year. Ceni picked up his first points of the season courtesy of the 2-0 win over newly promoted Avai on Tuesday, but faces a far bigger challenge if he’s to follow it up with another triumph.
That’s because Palmeiras arrive in excellent shape, back under the watch of last season’s title winning boss Cuca, who left at the season’s end but has now promptly returned.
The Curitiba native and his troops have only one objective coming into the campaign; to pick up as many trophies as possible. Expectations are sky high, but the side has looked capable of dealing with them, breezing to top spot in their Libertadores group as well as making good progress in the cup. They did slip to defeat in the second round of Brasileiro fixtures at Chapecoense, but a second string was fielded and the side that takes to the field come Saturday evening will be the one that crushed Vasco 4-0 in the league opener.
Overall we view the visitors as the side most likely to win. They’ve won 5 of the last 7 against Sao Paulo and arrive in far better shape with a more talented squad. It’s a derby and of course anything can happen, but the price on offer for an away victory with protection in case of a draw looks a good one at Evs.
Sao Paulo do possess home advantage, but it hasn’t been of much use to them recently as they’ve fallen 2-0 to both Cruzeiro and Corinthians in recent weeks. We are backing them to lose by the same scoreline again here.
Sao Paulo
The hosts are coming from Monday’s victory against Avai. They have easily managed to overcome the opposition with 2-0 while disallowing a single precise shot on their goal.
Aside from the Monday’s clash, the hosts were beaten by Cruzeiro with 1-0 in the opening round in Belo Horizonte.
Sao Paulo were able to keep a clean sheet in 5 out of last 7 games in Serie A.
Palmeiras
The guests were beaten last week by Chapecoense. Despite dominating the possession throughout the match, Palmeiras were only able to shoot on target once. Chapecoense scored through Antonio in the 73rd minute, sending Palmeiras home without points.
Prior to Chapeco visit, Palmeiras have welcomed Internacional and Vasco. Within Copa do Brasil 1/8-finals they bested Internacional with 1-0 while failing to score as the opposition’s player put the ball into his own net.
In the opening Brasileiro round, Palmeiras faced Vasco at Allianz Parque whom they obliterated with 4-0.
Sao Paulo vs Palmeiras: Head-to-head
The two sides met earlier this year in Campeonato Paulista where Palmeiras outplayed Sao Paolo with 3-0. Palmeiras have recorded only two wins at Estádio do Morumbi – back in 2001 and last season in Campeonato Paulista when they beat their rivals 0-2.
Sao Paulo vs Palmeiras: Prediction
Previous head-to-head meetings heavily favor the hosting side. However, both teams have exploitable weaknesses hence Palmeiras will look for a full prize at Morumbi. We can expect a thrilling low-scoring match with a lot of work for a referee where one goal will probably decide the outcome.
Sao Paulo vs Palmeiras: Bet tips
The first pick will be Both Teams to Score NO at 1.80.
You could also try Draw at the odds of 3.20.
