Bahia vs Cruzeiro Predictions

Saturday’s Brazilian Serie A action sees Bahia doing battle with Cruzeiro at the Arena Fonte Nova. The hosts arrive as favourites to secure all 3 points and will be looking to do exactly that in front of the home crowd.

Hosts Bahia were looking in pretty good shape prior to the Copa America break but they’ve not impressed so far in the action we’ve seen following it and they’ll be desperate for improvement here. Indeed, Tricolor were knocked of the Brazilian Cup at the quarter final stage by Gremio in midweek, whilst they also fell to a 1-0 league defeat against Santos last weekend.

Currently 11th with 14 points from 10 games, Bahia will be itching to kick on in the next few weeks and try to break into the top half of the table. Typically very powerful at home and having won 10 of their last 12 matches on their own patch, confidence will still be fairly high coming into this game and there’s no doubting that those taking to the pitch will be going out with nothing but maximum points in mind.

Meanwhile, though they remain in off the field crisis and may face a points deduction soon, Cruzeiro at least lifted spirits by knocking rivals Atletico Mineiro out of the cup in midweek, despite a 2-0 defeat in the away leg played. Raposa really had to hang on in said match and with an important Copa Libertadores trip to River Plate to come in midweek, they are set to rest their entire starting XI for this trip to Salvador.

Currently in the relegation zone and without a win in 7 league matches, it’s questionable whether or not the visitors can afford to do that but it’s the decision Mano Menezes appears to have made. Throw in the fact that Cru have also failed to win in 7 games on the road, losing 5 times in the process, and it’s apparent that their prospects look fairly bleak coming into the game.

Ultimately, with Cruzeiro several understrength and distracted, this is a match you have to fancy Bahia to win. They are an extremely difficult team to play against when at home and though they’ve had some questionable recent results, they’ve still performed at a greater standard than Cruzeiro have so far this season.

All things considered, backing a home win looks the way to play as far as the betting is concerned and is exactly where our money is going at a more than reasonable price. Cruzeiro have conceded an average of 2.28 goals over their last 7 away games and Bahia should be able to get the better of them on Saturday, with a 1-0 margin of home victory on the cards.