Internacional vs Cruzeiro Predictions

Thursday’s Brazilian Cup semi final second leg action sees Internacional going up against Cruzeiro at the Estádio Beira-Rio. It’s the hosts who arrive in the driving seat after securing an important 1-0 win in the first leg.

The pressure is certainly on Internacional coming into Thursday’s game, with their fans having left messages hung from buildings around Porto Alegre demanding they win the Brazilian Cup. Indeed, recently knocked out of the Copa Libertadores and 9 points off top spot in Serie A, the cup looks like being Colorado’s only route to success now and that makes Thursday’s game a very big one.

The team come into the game on a high, after picking up a morale boosting 3-2 home win over Botafogo at the weekend; a result that continues their excellent form on their own patch. Indeed, the side’s prospects look very bright ahead of this game, considering they’re unbeaten in an impressive 17 home matches, of which they’ve won 12.

Meanwhile, it’s been a wretched year for Cruzeiro so far, plagued by off the field issues and poor performances on it. Indeed, Raposa are currently just 1 place above the drop zone in Serie A but morale has been lifted around the club since Rogerio Ceni was brought in as manager a couple of weeks ago from Fortaleza.

In his first three games, Ceni has managed to oversee home wins over Santos and Vasco, but could only muster a draw away at a poor CSA side, continuing the side’s last than impressive away record. In recent months, Cruzeiro have really struggled away from Belo Horizonte, winning none of their last 12 away games and that has the chances of a comeback on Thursday looking slim, to say the very least.

Ultimately, although Ceni has somewhat improved Cruzeiro, it’s still hard to see them travelling to the Beira-Rio and managing to turn the tie around. Inter are incredibly strong and consistent on home soil and also the stronger of the two sides on paper in terms of quality, so it’s hard to see the hosts slipping up.

All things considered, backing a home win in Thursday’s match looks to provide good value and is exactly where our money is going. Inter have won their last 5 home Brazilian Cup ties and with Cruzeiro a far from powerful away outfit, that streak could well continue via a 1-0 margin of home victory.