Gameweek 14 in Brasileiro will see Bragantino take on a stuttering Atletico Goianiense at Estadio Nabi Abi Chedid in Sao Paulo on Thursday morning.
The hosts enter this match in ninth place in a tightly compact mid-table, while the visitors are currently the first side below the dotted line after 13 league games.
Match preview
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Bragantino have been a mixed bag this season, currently on 19 points, two points behind the top six, with a record of five wins, four draws and four losses after 13 games.
Massa Bruta played out a 1-1 draw against Cuiaba in midweek and are looking to avoid a third consecutive match without victory having lost 2-1 to Botafogo on the road last weekend.
Helinho scored the leveller against Dourado, marking his fourth goal in his last five matches and is now up to fourth place in the leading goal-scorer standings, two behind Flamengo centre-forward Pedro.
While Pedro Caixinha's side's domestic form has been inconsistent, they have been doing well in the continental competition, qualifying for the knockout stages of Copa Sudamericana in second place in their group with 13 points in six games.
The hosts have also been significantly better at home than on the road this term, accumulating 13 of their 19 points at Estadio Nabi Abi Chedid, while only suffering one defeat in six home games to date.
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Meanwhile, after securing promotion back to the top flight last season, Atletico Goianiense have made the worst start of all four of the newly promoted teams, managing just 11 points after their first 13 games.
However, with very little to separate the sides in the bottom half of the standings, a victory here will likely see them move out of the drop zone and could even take them as high as 12th, provided results elsewhere go in their favour.
Since the introduction of Anderson Gomes, who replaced Jair Ventura as manager on June 21, Dragao are unbeaten with three consecutive draws, including a 0-0 against Cuiaba and back-to-back 1-1 results versus Gremio and Atletico Minerio ahead of this match.
Interestingly, the visitors have a much better record on the road than at home this season, earning nine of their 11 points on their travels, and are now looking to go a fourth consecutive match without defeat.
The last time these sides met was in the 2022 season which Dragao won 2-1, although they had lost each of the four preceding matches and failed to score in any of them.
Team News
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Bragantino will have to make do without the services of defender Jose Hurtado, who will remain away for a while longer having helped Ecuador qualify for the last 16 at the Copa America.
Henry Mosquera will be eligible to return to action this week after serving his one-match suspension, but Eduardo Sasha, Matheus Fernandes and Nathan Camargo are all out with injuries.
Atletico Goianiense have two long-term absentees in Angelo Araos and Campanharo, who are still recovering from cruciate ligament injuries and are expected to remain sidelined for the foreseeable future.
Yony Gonzalez (hamstring) and Alix (ankle) have missed nine and six games respectively due to injury, although the latter could return to the bench in midweek if passed fit.
Bragantino possible starting lineup:
Schwengber; Mendes, Henrique, Candido, Capixaba; Ramires, Evangelista, Lincoln; Junio, Talisson, Vitinho
Atletico Goianiense possible starting lineup:
Ronaldo; Maguinho, Martins, Vinicius, Romao; Kal, Roni; Shaylon, Techera; Fernando, Rodriguez
We say: Bragantino 2-1 Atletico Goianiense
Both these sides have been a bit of a mixed bag this season, but Bragantino have done well at home, suffering only one defeat in six home matches this term, and we feel they will edge this result by the odd goal.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
