Flamengo vs Santa Cruz Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

Sunday could be a decisive day at both ends of the table. 2nd place Flamengo host 19th place Santa Cruz at the same time as leaders Palmeiras are taking on bottom club America Mineiro. If the results go as expected, the bottom two might as well start planning for life in Serie B next term. Santa Cruz are 10 points shy of safety with 10 games to play and need to put a run of wins together quickly to stand any chance of beating the drop.

To put it bluntly, there is no sign of that happening. You have to go back to April and the regional competitions for the last time they recorded back-to-back wins and they come into this match following 3 straight league defeats, and with just 1 win in their last 13 Serie A matches overall. The latest loss was an agonising 3-2 home defeat against Palmeiras on Monday and their ability to score goals, but concede more, has been the theme of their season.

Flamengo are now 3 points behind Palmeiras after they could only draw at Sao Paulo last weekend and they will regard this as an absolute must-win game. The good news for them is that their home form is so strong that a Flamengo win looks highly likely here. They have won 8 home league games in a row coming into this one, which is good going for a side that hasn’t had a regular home this year. Here they are in Sao Paulo at the Pacaembu Stadium and will receive strong backing again despite being in the backyard of their title rivals.

Santa Cruz have only won once on the road this season and that was against the only side below them, America. They’ve lost their last 4 away games, despite having scored 6 goals in their last 3 matches on the road. They have easily the best goal-scoring record in the bottom four and have actually scored just 4 fewer goals than opponents Flamengo, so an away goal is a possibility here but a home win still looks a certainty, so there is value to be found in backing Flamengo to Win & Both Teams to Score at 12/5.