Fluminense will hope to put an end to their four-match losing run in league play when they host the league leaders Atletico Mineiro on Monday at Estadio Sao Januario.
Nense come into this match just a point clear of relegation in the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A, while their opponents are on top of the table with 37 points after 16 games played.
Match preview
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The last couple of months have been extremely difficult for Fluminense, especially domestically, winning only two of their previous 11 league fixtures, having lost their previous four outings.
Fresh off a heartbreaking elimination to Barcelona SC on away goals in the Copa Libertadores, Roger Machado was sacked over the weekend with his now-former team currently in 16th place in the Brazilian table.
Coming off their 2020 domestic campaign, where they came in fifth in the league, their highest finish since capturing the Serie A crown in 2012, the expectations were high in 2021 and to this point, Flu have been underwhelming.
For years this team had been consistently near the bottom of the table, narrowly escaping relegation season after season and the way things are looking now, their new interim manager Marcao may need to pull off another escape in this campaign.
They have not always given up a ton of shots on target, but the ones that they do concede always seem to find the back of their net, as Barcelona scored on their only two targeted efforts in the first leg of their quarter-final tie at the Copa Libertadores, two goals that made all the difference in the end.
This squad's depth will be tested this week as they face Atletico Mineiro twice, once in Serie A and then again on Thursday in the quarter-finals of the Copa do Brasil, before taking on Bahia to wrap up the month.
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From a struggling side to one that are thriving at the moment, Atletico Mineiro are poised to have an outstanding season.
Galo advanced to the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores on Wednesday, thanks to a dominating 3-0 win over the former four-time champions River Plate.
At the moment, it is hard to find a flaw in their game as they have won their last nine league matches while also advancing to the final four of the Copa Libertadores and the quarter-finals of the Copa do Brasil.
With so many trophies to play for, the biggest challenge for Cuca will be ensuring that his players remain well-rested, as they play three matches in all competitions in less than a week, beginning on Monday.
This team have passed every major test so far this season, and they have faced a lot of stiff challenges lately, defeating Palmeiras 2-0 in their last league fixture and taking out Boca Juniors in the knockout stage of the Copa Libertadores on penalties.
Atletico have only won the Brazilian league once, back in 1971, but there is no reason to believe that they cannot complete a treble for the first time in their history.
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Team News
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There was only one change to the starting 11 for Flu from their last league match to their second leg tie against Barcelona as Fred slotted in as the lone striker, scoring a late injury-time goal, as he replaced Abel Hernandez, who came on as a substitute.
In their defeat to Internacional, Nino scored his first goal on the domestic campaign, while Yago Felipe scored his first goal since May 25, when his side defeated River Plate 3-1.
Egidio, leads the team with two assists in the Brasileiro Serie A, as he set up the goal by Nino last Sunday, his first of this domestic campaign.
Atletico made a big splash on the transfer market following their victory against Palmeiras, signing former Chelsea and Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa until December 2022.
Argentine-born midfielder Matias Zaracho scored twice to help Atletico take out River Plate in midweek, while Hulk scored for the first time since August 8, as he is currently tied for second in the league in goals and assists with seven and five respectively.
Their goalkeeper Everson leads the Serie A with eight clean sheets on the season and has been helped by a solid backline usually consisting of Mariano, Nathan, Junior Alonso and Guilherme Arana.
Atletico made two changes to the starting lineup between their victory over Palmeiras and their win over River Plate as Allan started in midweek instead of Tche Tche and Matias Zaracho took the place of Ignacio Fernandez.
Fluminense possible starting lineup:
Marcos; Egidio, Claro, Nino, Xavier; Yago Felipe, Wellington, Andre; Nene, Kayky, Hernandez
Atletico Mineiro possible starting lineup:
Everson; Mariano, Silva, Alonso, Arana; Tche Tche, Hyoran; Zaracho, Savarino; Costa, Hulk
We say: Fluminense 1-2 Atletico Mineiro
With a new man in charge, we should see Flu come out a lot more determined to impress their new boss, but sustaining that for 90 minutes could be too much to ask for against the top team in the league at the moment.
Everything is going right for Atletico Mineiro right now as they have taken care of every opponent who have been lying in wait, having not lost a competitive match since late June, while their nearest title challengers (Palmeiras and Fortaleza) both failed to win this weekend, which provides Galo with another chance to pad their lead.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
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 Atletico Mineiro win with a probability of 40.39%. A win for Fluminense had a probability of 30.07% and a draw had a probability of 29.5%.
The most likely scoreline for an Atletico Mineiro win was 0-1 with a probability of 13.89%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (8.09%) and 1-2 (7.78%). The likeliest Fluminense win was 1-0 (11.47%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.36%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 13.4% likelihood.
