Palmeiras will look to record their sixth straight league victory and stretch their lead at the top of the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A table on Sunday, when they make the trip to take on Atletico Goianiense.
An eye-catching run of form has seen Abel Ferreira's men move two points clear at the summit of the table, while their opponents have quickly slipped down after an impressive start to the campaign.
Match preview
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Atletico Goianiense enjoyed a strong start to the campaign, collecting 10 points from their first five games to briefly move into the top five, as they recorded impressive wins over Corinthians, Sao Paulo and Fluminense.
However, the form of Eduardo Barroca's side quickly tailed off, first losing 2-1 to Bragantino, who sat at the top of the table at the time, before being thrashed 4-1 by Atletico Mineiro.
The Dragao did bounce back from those consecutive defeats with a 1-0 win over strugglers Gremio, thanks to Lucao's 55th-minute goal, but they would then fail to build another winning run.
Barroca's men would draw 1-1 with Sport Recife as Arthur equalised immediately after Marcao's opener for their opponents, and they picked up another slightly underwhelming point last time out.
Atletico GO made the trip to take on strugglers Juventude, and they looked set to see out a 1-0 win thanks Ze Roberto's 75th-minute opener, only for the hosts to win a penalty deep into added time, which Matheus Peixoto made no mistake in converting to force the visitors to share the points.
While they do generally seem to be moving in the right direction following their promotion to the top flight in 2019, the disappointing recent form has seen the Goiania outfit drop to 10th spot, although a victory on Sunday could see them rise as high as sixth depending on other results.
That will be no easy task, though, as they take on the league leaders who are in a fine run of form.
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After winning three of their first five games, Palmeiras looked in a strong position to establish themselves at the top end of the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A table, but a 3-1 defeat in a crucial clash against title-rivals Bragantino could have hugely knocked the confidence of Abel Ferreira's men.
A Ytalo hat-trick put the Alviverde to the sword, but they would not go into a slump after that, instead bouncing back with a 3-2 win over Bahia thanks to a 92nd-minute winner from Breno Lopes after Raphael Veiga's 78th-minute equaliser and Gustavo Scarpa's early opener.
They then started to build a winning run, following that victory up by beating Internacional 2-1 and Sport Recife 1-0 away from home.
That winning run was stretched to five games in the Brazilian top flight in their last league meeting, as goals from Gustavo Gomez, Lopes and Willian fired them to a 3-2 win over Santos after previously beating basement side Gremio 2-0.
Ferreira's men then carried that form into the Copa Libertadores last time out, as Veiga scored from the penalty spot to give them a 1-0 victory over Universidad Catolica in the first leg of their round-of-16 tie.
After recently moving to the summit of the division, Palmeiras now sit two points clear of Bragantino after 11 league games of the campaign, and they will be keen to add a sixth straight league victory to remain at the top of the table and potentially increase their cushion.
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Team News
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Atletico Goianiense come into Sunday's game without midfielder Joao Paulo and forward Ronald, with the pair both ruled out through injuries.
Attacker Ze Roberto will be hopeful of earning a starting spot, after he came off the bench to score his second league goal of the season in the recent clash with Juventude.
Janderson is another player who will hope to break back into the starting XI after a spell on the bench, while Natanael could start on the opposite flank in an exciting front line.
Despite featuring in a gruelling Copa Libertadores clash on Wednesday and the second leg taking place three days after Sunday's game, Palmeiras are unlikely to rest key players, as they look to ensure they collect all three points in their bid to stay at the top of the league.
As a result, the likes of Gustavo Scarpa, Raphael Veiga and Breno Lopes should all feature from the start.
Willian could return to the starting XI to lead the line following his substitute appearance last time out, with the experienced forward having hit three goals in seven league appearances so far this campaign.
Their only absentees should be Luiz Adriano and Gabriel Veron through injury, and Gabriel Menino, who is away on international duty.
The centre-back pairing of Benjamin Kuscevic and Gustavo Gomez was formidable in the 1-0 win over Universidad Catolica, and they should again partner up at the heart of the back four.
Atletico Goianiense possible starting lineup:
Fernando; Dudu, Oliveira, Eder, Igor; Maranhao, Freitas; Janderson, Arthur, Natanael; Roberto
Palmeiras possible starting lineup:
Weverton; Rocha, Kuscevic, Gomez, Vina; Danilo, Rafael; Veiga, Scarpa, Lopes; Willian
We say: Atletico Goianiense 0-2 Palmeiras
The two sides come into the game in fairly contrasting runs of form, and we can only see Palmeiras stretching their winning run to seven games in all competitions.
The visitors have found their groove and look at the peak of their powers, and they should have enough to get past an Atletico Goianiense side who have won just one of their last five outings in the top flight.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Palmeiras win with a probability of 43.99%. A draw had a probability of 28.4% and a win for Atletico Goianiense had a probability of 27.64%.
The most likely scoreline for a Palmeiras win was 0-1 with a probability of 13.72%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (8.79%) and 1-2 (8.37%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (13.07%), while for an Atletico Goianiense win it was 1-0 (10.2%). The actual scoreline of 0-3 was predicted with a 3.8% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Palmeiras would win this match.
