The mid-week action in Brazil does not get any better than this as the top two teams in Serie A meet at the Arena Corinthians, Sao Paulo.
Corinthians, the hosts, are currently top the table and since 2011 and they have won two Brazilian titles, so they know what it takes to finish top of the league. Their last title was in 2015 and they are aiming to make it two league wins in three seasons. The visitors to the Arena Corinthians this week are second place Gremio. They finished runners-up in Serie A back in 2013 and this was the only time they come close to winning the title since their victory in 1996. Can they win this game and close the gap on the current leaders?
Brazil Serie A – Arena Corinthians, São Paulo – Friday 19 th October 2017 – 00:45 UK Time
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Draw Best Odd of: 21/20 at Ladbrokes |
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Corinthians
GremioCorinthians Form
Corinthians start this match on 58 points, having won 17, drawn 7 and lost 4 of their 28 Serie A games. They have a 9-point cushion over Gremio and will be hoping to extend that lead come the end of this match. Having suffered a rare defeat on the weekend, going down 2-0 to Bahia away from home, Corinthians will want to make a return to winning ways in-front of their own fans. The loss in Bahia means it is only one win in the last 4 Serie A games for Corinthians and despite have a nice lead at the top, they cannot afford to keep dropping points if they want to maintain their position. Corinthians have lost only 2 of their last 19 home Serie A games.
Gremio Form
This will be the second away match in a row for Gremio, who recorded a 1-0 victory at struggling Coritiba on the weekend. However, Gremio’s form has been inconsistent and despite finding themselves second in the league table, they have won only 3 of their last 9 Serie A games. They have also lost 4 of their last 6 and this suggests they are not in the best of form coming into this match. Away from home, Gremio have lost 4 of their last 12 away league games, winning 50% of them and this suggests they should give a good account of themselves in this match.
Team News
Corinthians will be without the injured trio of Leo Santos, Paulo Roberto and Danilo but top scorer Jo should be fit to take his place up-front.
Gremio will travel without Miller Bolanos and arguably their best player, Luan, who are both injured. Fernandinho will hope to be passed fit but Douglas will miss out.
Top Betting Tips
If you want goal mouth action, this might not be the game for you. Under 2.5 goals have been scored in 8 of Corinthians last 9 Serie A games and in Gremio’s last 6 Serie A games. Under 2.5 goals is 19/40 with Ladbrokes. A closer look at Gremio’s away record shows they have seen just 1 goal in each of their last 5 Serie A games. Gremio to score under 0.5 goals is 5/4 with Ladbrokes. If we are to see a winner in this match, it could be by the smallest of margins and you can get 9/2 with Ladbrokes for Corinthians to win the match 1-0.