Palmeiras vs Atletico Paranaese Predictions

Thursday’s Brazilian Serie A action sees Palmeiras and Atletico PR going blow for blow. The hosts will be looking for another 3 points as they aim to make ground in the title race.

Palmeiras’ resurgence under Luiz Felipe Scolari shows no signs of slowing down, with Verdao having picked up a good 2-1 win at Chapecoense over the weekend. The hosts looked down and out as far as the title was concerned prior to Scolari’s return but now find themselves in 5th, just 6 points shy of table toppers Sao Paulo.

Whilst they’re still outsiders to secure the crown given their current position, if Palmeiras can retain their current performance levels, they’ll be in with a strong shout of making the ground up. Overall, the side have won 4 of their last 5 league outings and having also won 4 home league matches on the bounce, confidence is clearly high going into Thursday’s game.

Meanwhile, it looks as though Atletico PR might have been set to suffer a shock relegation earlier on in the season but the visitors have managed to pull themselves clear of danger, currently sitting inside the top half and 4 points above the drop zone.

However, Furacão’s upturn in form can mainly be attributed to the fact their last 4 league games have seen them play on home soil; somewhere they’ve now managed to win 5 Serie A matches in a row on. The real test now begins for Tiago Nunes’ troops as they return to the road for the first time in a long period and having not won away from home all season, confidence cannot be that high going into Thursday’s game regardless of recent results.

Ultimately, whilst it’s undeniable that Atletico have performed well in recent weeks, their form is something of a false reading for the aforementioned reasons and having lost 50% of their games on the road this season, they look likely to be brought back down to earth by a Palmeiras outfit in excellent shape.

All things considered, we really like the look of backing the hosts to win to nil and that’s exactly where our money is going at more than reasonable odds. Palmieras have been close to impenetrable since they made their managerial change, keeping clean sheets in 6 of their last 7 league matches, and with Atletico so weak on the road, the hosts don’t look like being troubled by them. Man for man, Palmeiras are the far stronger of the two and that should be apparent on the pitch, with a 2-0 home win our correct scoreline prediction.