A big stone in the Palmeiras shoe in the 2017 season, the Cruzeiro is the adversary of the alviverde this Monday, October 30. The match closes the thirty-first round of the Brazilian Championship. It will be held from 20h (Brasília time) at Allianz Parque, in São Paulo.
The recent performance of Palmeiras
After performing two matches at Pacaembu while his stadium was rented to perform music shows, Palmeiras returns to his house in a very different situation. After the crisis of results that provoked the departure of the technician Cuca, packed a sequence of three victories under the direction of the interim coach Alberto Valentin.
With that, he reduced, at the end of the thirtieth round, the difference in comparison with Corinthians, who surpassed the ten-point home to six. Thus, he presented his candidacy to win the bicampeonato of the competition, which would be his tenth Brazilian title in the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) account.
On the previous day, Palmeiras played before Corinthians. He defeated Grêmio’s reserve team 3-1 in Porto Alegre and put pressure on the rival, who succumbed to Botafogo 2-0 in Rio de Janeiro.
This time, the situation is reversed. The schedule of the round established the game of alvinegro against Ponte Preta, in Campinas, for Sunday. It will be up to the Palmeiras to deal with the pressure. In practice, the difference is small. Regardless of what happens at the Moisés Lucarelli stadium, victory is a must for Verdão, who tries to recover from a poor start to the championship.
With 53 points (16 wins, five draws and nine defeats), the Albverde had the return of striker Roger Guedes, recovered from injury, to training. He participated in the activities of the week and will probably be related to the bench by Alberto Valentin if he shows evolution in the physical conditioning.
The midfielder Moisés and defender Edu Dracena, who have been preserved from training throughout the week to do muscle strengthening in the gym, should not be a problem for the match. Meanwhile Guerra and Michel Bastos and striker William, in the medical department, are out of action.
The current form of the Cruise
The Cruzeiro is on tour in the Brazilian Championship. With the Cup of Brazil champion in its trophy gallery and the direct vacancy in the group stage of the Copa Libertadores of America, uses the final days of the competition as a kind of pre-season anticipated for 2018.
This, however, does not mean absolute tranquility. The fans can even accept the 1-0 loss to Coritiba in the twenty-ninth round. The failure of Sunday, October 22, against Atletico-MG, however, is more difficult to be swallowed. Especially for having the Cruzeiro left in advantage and allowed the turn to the rival.
Even so, the line of work showed no significant changes throughout the week. Cast reviews and canning on hiring and dismissal were the main subject at the Toca da Raposa.
The initial goals outlined in relation to the current group are the maintenance of Rafael Sóbis and Hudson midfielder, who have their loans limited to December 31.
History of the bouts between Palmeiras and Cruzeiro
The teams fought two duels filled with excitement in the current season by the Brazil Cup. In the first game, in São Paulo, the Cruzeiro opened a 3-0 lead, but ended up yielding equality in the decisive stage. In the return match, in Belo Horizonte, it was the turn of Palmeiras to take the lead, but a goal in the final moments led to equality by 1 to 1 and secured the classification of Cruzeiro, who would become champion of the tournament.
In the Brasileirão, the meetings of teams of Italian origin happened 53 times. There were 22 Cruzeiro victories, 16 draws and 15 Palmeiras successes. In the first round of the 2017 edition, the miners scored 3-1 increasing their unbeaten run in front of their rivals in the competition for seven matches (four wins and three draws). Palmeiras’s most recent victory came in 2012. At home, he scored 2-0.
PREDICTION: Cruzeiro win @ 4.75
