America Mineiro can claim a third successive home victory in the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A when they welcome Athletico Paranaense to Mineirao on Sunday.
Coelho won their previous domestic encounter 2-0 at home to Corinthians but remain in the relegation zone, a point from salvation, while El Paranaense are one point behind Fluminense for the final Copa Libertadores qualifying position after defeating Botafogo 1-0.
Match preview
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It is matchday 10 in the Brazilian top flight, and the name of the game for Vagner Mancini is catch-up, something his side have had to do a lot of lately following a rough start to the campaign, losing their opening four fixtures.
They have begun to level off a little since then, winning two of their last three contests, both home victories in which they scored multiple times.
America have been plagued with inconsistencies on the defensive front throughout the campaign, leaving too much space in between their midfield and backline, tied for the most goals conceded in the league thus far (20).
At the moment, Coelho are a long way away from where they were at this stage of the 2022 campaign, when they had 14 points from their opening nine league fixtures, exactly half as much as America currently have.
They do hold a 100% home record versus Athletico in this competition, shutting them out at Mineirao on back-to-back occasions, 1-0 last year.
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To follow a coaching legend like Luiz Felipe Scolari is no easy task, but El Paranaense boss Paulo Turra has done that before with Palmeiras, Cruzeiro and Gremio.
Turra has already been able to add to their trophy case, having led them to a 27th Campeonato Paranaense title earlier this year, though they have stumbled a little in the league of late, losing two of their previous three contests.
While the club from Curitiba are still small in comparison to the teams from Rio, Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte, they have shown an ability to compete, making it to the final of two major continental tournaments over each of the past two campaigns (Copa Libertadores runners-up in 2022 and Copa Sudamericana winners in 2021), and have only finished outside of the Serie A top 10 once since 2018.
Assuring themselves of a place in the knockout phase of the Copa Libertadores is one less headache for Turra to worry about, but he will be tasked with rotating his squad in the weeks to come with a Copa do Brasil quarter-final clash versus Flamengo on the horizon in July.
He has been able to balance things relatively well so far, as they have not lost more than two consecutive games in the league all year, while half of their defeats domestically were by a single goal (2/4).
Team News
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Matheusinho has missed the last couple of matches for America because of a virus but might be ready to return, while Adyson and Dada Belmonte are not expected back until the middle of this month from ankle and groin injuries, respectively.
A 74th-minute penalty from Danilo Avelar helped put them in front against Corinthians, with Renato Marques adding some insurance 13 minutes later and Mateus Pasinato shutting the door with two stops for the clean sheet.
Pasinato was also between the sticks for their previous Copa Sudamericana triumph versus Millonarios on Tuesday, making three stops for another shutout, while Aloisio and Breno found the mark in another 2-0 victory.
Athletico might be missing Fernandinho for another week with a muscle strain, while the return of Pablo from a hip injury has been tabled for the end of the month.
Alex Santana fired home his first of the domestic campaign in their previous fixture just minutes before the end of the half, with Bento collecting his third clean sheet.
They also scored a 1-0 win over Libertad at the Copa Libertadores on Tuesday, with Bento in goal yet again and Christian firing home the winner on 72 minutes.
America Mineiro possible starting lineup:
Pasinato; M. Henrique, Wanderson, Avelar, Marlon; Kal; Azevedo, Juninho, Goncalves; Marques, Aloisio
Athletico Paranaense possible starting lineup:
Bento; Khellven, P. Henrique, Ivaldo, Fernando; Santana, Moura; Canobbio, Terans, Cuello; Roque
We say: America Mineiro 2-0 Athletico Paranaense
Both teams have reeled off some solid outings of late, but we are leaning towards America, who seem to have found their form and begun gaining some momentum on home soil.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
