Having the opportunity to enter the field already knowing the result of all its persecutors in the fight for the title of Brazilian Championship version 2017, Corinthians places this Monday, October 23, a final point in the thirtieth round. In the Nilson Santos stadium, Engenhão, in Rio de Janeiro, will face Botafogo. The kickoff is scheduled for 20h (Brasília time).
Botafogo’s recent performance
The alvinegro from Rio escaped a defeat in the twenty-ninth round with a goal in the 51st minute of the second half. Marcos Vinícius put the ball in the net in the match against Avaí in Florianópolis, equalizing the score, in 1 to 1, and secured another point in the Botafogo account.
With 44 points (12 wins, eight draws and nine losses), the club finished the twenty-ninth in seventh place, the last in the qualifying zone for the 2018 Copa Libertadores of America.
The scoreboard now read 0% of the visitors in the game. Upon landing in Rio de Janeiro, the Botafoguenses athletes were greeted with complaints and cries against poor performance. Without physical violence, the fans demanded the classification for the continental tournament. The action was probably sparked less by the draw in Florianopolis and more by the defeat in the classic against Vasco, by 1 to 0, in the twenty-eighth round.
Coach Jair Ventura Filho avoided giving statements and talking about possible changes in the lineup, but most likely they will happen to try to maintain the recent good home performance of the Lonely Star team that got four victories in the last five matches as a principal.
The current form of Corinthians
Even leading the Brasileirão, Corinthians has also lived with criticism. Although they may seem exaggerated, they are grounded. After all, after making the most spectacular campaign of all time in the Brazilian Championship since the implementation of the points system, Timão fell in the second round.
The situation is no more complicated because its main competitors have not shown up to now competence to discount the difference of points in relation to the leader. At the end of the first round, Gremio, the isolated runner-up at the time, had eight points less than São Paulo’s alvinegro. At the end of day 29, the advantage of Corinthians in comparison with Gremists, Palmeiras and Santos, who were in second place, was nine points. That is, the situation was better than after the extraordinary first round with an advantage point remaining nine days to the end of the tournament.
If the score is not able to justify complaints regarding Corinthian performance, the lack of quality football presented may explain the complaints. On Wednesday night, October 18, at home against Grêmio, the Corinthians spent 90 minutes without being able to hit a shot in the direction of the goal defended by Marcelo Grohe. Before, in the defeat against Bahia, in Salvador, the Corinthians already had not had good numbers in this question shooting only two kicks in the target.
Coach Fábio Carille even conceded the drop in yield, citing players who dropped production, but ruled out making radical changes in both the team’s playing style and the main team.
For the match against Botafogo, the biggest doubt is in relation to the use of defender Paul. Injured, the athlete was out of the confrontation with the Grêmio. It depends on a new evaluation of the evolution of the treatment in your left thigh muscle injury to know if it will be available. If he receives the green signal from the medical department, he must occupy the position that was on Pedro Henrique’s behalf against the gauchos.
History of the bouts between Botafogo and Corinthians
In 53 confrontations involving Botafogo and Corinthians in Brasileirão, the Botafoguenses took the best in 21 opportunities. With 1-0 in the first round of the 2017 season, the Corinthians have achieved 16 successes, even number of duels.
PREDICTION: DRAW @ 3.10
