Flamengo vs Santos Predictions

Thursday’s Brazilian Serie A action sees Flamengo going up against Santos. Both teams will be looking to bounce back from respective disappointing defeats last time out.

Having now taken just 2 points from the last available 9, Flamengo’s title revival under Dorival Junior looks to be running out of steam and Megao now find themselves in last chance saloon in Thursday’s game. Currently 7 points behind leaders Palmeiras with 5 matches left to play, even a perfect finish is likely to see the side fall short but they cannot afford to give up on what would be a first league title since 2009.

Things had been going excellent as far as the hosts were concerned in the opening half of the campaign, as they charged to the top under Mauricio Barbieri. However, form then dropped off and while hopes were raised once again when 3 matches in a row were won last month in convincing fashion, defeat to rivals Botafogo over the weekend has left a deflated feeling in home ranks.

Similarly, Santos also find themselves losing momentum at just the wrong time, with defeats in the last 2 matches leaving their Copa Libertadores place hanging in the balance. Currently just a point outside the all important top 6 slots, all hope is not lost for Peixe but they are going to have to seriously improve in the remaining 5 matches if they are to break into them.

The fact that Santos are even in contention for a place in South America’s biggest competition is a testament to the work that Cuca has done since stepping into the dugout, with the team lingering around the relegation spots. Nonetheless, the visitors were very poor in their 1-0 defeat to lowly Chapecoense on Monday and having won just 4 of their 16 away games so far this season, hopes can’t be particularly high going into this trip.

Ultimately, whilst neither team arrives in the greatest of form, it’s Flamengo who appear by far the more likely winners. Having played on Saturday, they’ve had far more rest than Santos have ahead of kick off, and with the crowd behind them, you’d have to fancy them to pick up maximum points.

Flamengo have been dominant at home all season, winning 12 of their 16 clashes and with Santos far from inspiring on their travels, we’re more than happy to back a home win at a reasonable price. It’s likely to be quite a tight game but we think that Flamengo will be able to edge it by a 1-0 margin of victory.