Cruzeiro vs Chapecoense Predictions

Sunday’s Brazilian Serie A clash sees a Cruzeiro side in party mood doing battle against the struggling Chapecoense. A close game is expected to be in order overall.

Cruzeiro will take to the field in jubilant mood but tiredness will surely be present in their ranks, after they retained their Copa do Brasil title away at Corinthians in midweek. It really was a season defining tie for Raposa and having now claimed the crown and the Copa Libertadores football that comes with it, there’s very little left to play for in the remaining 9 league matches for the side.

That’s because, despite their cup success, Cruzeiro have fallen well short of any title hopes as far as Serie A is concerned, currently 10th and 22 points behind leaders Palmeiras. After partying long into the night after the gruelling match on Thursday, boss Mano Menezes may well opt to rest a number of his stars on Sunday but those that take to the field will still want to claim all 3 points to maintain the good mood around the club.

Meanwhile, visitors Chapecoense are certainly in no mood for partying, with their Serie A status at huge risk. It was always likely to be a season of struggle for Verdao, given they came into it with a weak looking squad on paper and so it has proved, with the side currently third bottom and a point adrift of safety.

A devastating home defeat to fellow relegation rivals Vitoria has morale low in visiting ranks and also cost boss Guto Ferreira his job, with Claudinei Oliveira now the man tasked with saving the season. Without a win on the road all season, Chape are clearly not a powerful force on their travels but they’ll be hopeful of at least taking something given the distraction in the home side.

Ultimately, in normal circumstances we’d back Cruzeiro to win this clash at a canter as they’re clearly a stronger side than Chapecoense, but with little riding on the game for them and little focus awarded to it, Chape could well take home a rare result collected on enemy territory.

That being said, no matter how little importance Cruzeiro are giving the game, we cannot envisage Chape winning on the road, so backing a draw looks an excellent way to play. Cruzeiro have drawn 4 of their last 6 home matches and with the latter 2 of said stalemates ending 1-1, that’s a scoreline we can see being repeated come full time on Sunday.