Corinthians vs Avai Predictions

Thursday’s Brazilian Serie A action sees Corinthians doing battle with Avai in Sao Paulo. The hosts arrive as huge favourites to win the game and shouldn’t have any issues in dispatching of the already relegated visitors.

It’s fair to say Thursday’s game will have been marked down as a must win by Corinthians. The side haven’t been playing well in recent months and sacking Fabio Carille has done let to change that, with caretaker boss Dyego Coelho also struggling to get any consistency out of the group.

Indeed, Timao now have just a 4 point margin for error in terms of their hold on a Copa Libertadores qualification spot and with 4 games left to play, it’s imperative they hold onto one. Nonetheless, despite their struggles, Corinthians have lost just once at home all season, winning 9 of their 17 outings in the process, so confidence can be high in seeing off what is a very weak Avai outfit.

The visitors have been by far the worst team in Serie A this season and that’s more than shown by the situation in which they find themselves. Rock bottom with a measly 18 points from 34 matches, Avai are already relegated and just appear ready for a miserable campaign to come to an end so preparations for life in Serie B can start.

Avai lost to second bottom Chapecoense last time out and the ill feeling around the club was clearly displayed in said match, with midfielder Matheus Barbosa sent off for showing his middle finger to his own team’s fans. Having secured just 2 points from their last 13 matches, spirits couldn’t be any lower in visiting ranks and it’s fair to say it looks like being a long evening for them in Sao Paulo.

Ultimately, Corinthians will know the importance of winning this game and it’s very hard to picture them slipping up. Man for man, they are simply on another level to Avai and with the visitors in atrocious form and having nothing to play for, you have to question their motivational levels coming into the clash.

All things considered, we think Corinthians will secure victory easily and fancy backing them on the -1 handicap. Avai have conceded an average of 2.07 goals a game over their last 13 games, whilst scoring just 5 times and with that in mind, we think they’ll fall to a 3-0 defeat this Thursday.