Despite their positions in the bottom half of the Brasileiro, Goias and Ceara head into their meeting on Sunday on the back of strong unbeaten runs.
The hosts snatched a late equaliser at bottom-of-the-table Fortaleza in midweek, whilst the visitors continued their fine form by picking up an impressive win at America Mineiro on Wednesday.
Match preview
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After picking up just two points from the opening four matchdays of the 2022 Brasileiro campaign, during a five-game winless run overall, Goias have since suffered just one defeat in the seven games that have followed in all competitions.
Six of these fixtures have been in the league, of which three have ended in victory to lift Sunday's hosts up to 13th in the table ahead of matchday 11.
As a result, the newly-promoted outfit head into their clash with Ceara full of confidence this weekend, and also on a high following their dramatic encounter at Fortaleza on Thursday evening.
Despite their opponents being at the foot of the Brasileiro table, Goias headed into their trip as underdogs, and were outplayed for much of the opening stages at the Estadio Castelao.
However, after deservedly falling 1-0 behind in the first half, Jair Ventura's side rallied during an improved second-half performance and snatched an equaliser four minutes from time through Pedro Raul.
Ventura will be hopeful that his side can use that buzz to their advantage at the Estadio da Serrinha this weekend to continue their fine form, and pull themselves further away from the relegation places during the opening half of the campaign.
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Meanwhile, visitors Ceara head to Goias amidst a fine run of form themselves - a nine-game unbeaten streak across all competitions.
However, Ceara's progress has been halted after Flamengo swooped in to appoint their manager Dorival Junior on Friday, following the sacking of Paulo Sousa at the giants.
As a result, a caretaker manager will be left in charge of the team for Sunday's game, who will be tasked with extending Junior's fine work at the club in recent months.
Under Junior, Ceara have progressed to the latter stages of the Copa Sudamericana following a 100% record in Group G, whilst also progressing to the last 32 of the Copa do Brasil following an impressive triumph over Red Bull Bragantino too.
Successive draws with Flamengo, Santos and Sao Paulo have been achieved in league action in recent weeks, with triumphs over Fortaleza and America Mineiro on Wednesday helping the side to climb to 12th ahead of matchday 11 this weekend, leaving them level on points with Sunday's hosts.
Although the visitors have their backs against the walls following the departure of their head coach, they will take great confidence from their division-leading away record during the 2022 Brasileiro campaign so far, with 11 of their 13 points coming on their travels to date, and as a result, they remain a tricky opponent to face for Goias at the Estadio da Serrinha.
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Team News
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A defensive 5-4-1 setup has worked wonders for Goias in recent weeks, so despite returning home in a winnable fixture, Ventura is unlikely to deviate away from his winning formula too much on Sunday.
With five goals in eight Brasileiro games this campaign, Raul is likely to be the lone man in attack once again for Goias.
Matheus Santos and Luiz Filipe are out for the season due to serious knee injuries, whilst Diego and Hugo remain doubts due to muscle and knee injuries respectively.
As for the visitors, it remains to be seen how many alterations to personnel and tactics the new caretaker manager will make on Sunday.
However, it is unlikely that he will sway too far away from Junior's successful 4-3-3 formation of recent weeks that has yielded so much success during their unbeaten run.
Although, a change could be required at full-back for the trip to Goias, with right-back Nino Paraiba being forced off with a knock late on in midweek.
As many as six further players are also listed as doubts due to various injuries, with Richard, Buiu, Luiz Otavio, Dentinho, Leo Rafael and Vinicius Lima all struggling following recent absences.
Goias possible starting lineup:
Tadeu; Maguinho, Sidnei, Reynaldo, Caetano, Belmonte; Sales, Junqueira, Bastos, Vinicius; Raul
Ceara possible starting lineup:
Ricardo; Macedo, Messias, Lacerda, Pacheco; Sobral, Lindoso, Coelho; Vina, Cleber, Mendoza
We say: Goias 1-1 Ceara
With both of these sides grinding out positive results by narrow margins in recent weeks, it is likely to be a tight meeting between the two on Sunday.
As a result, we can see Goias and Ceara cancelling each other out to finish level, with very little between these two sides on paper, or in terms of recent excellent form too.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Matthew Tranter
