Ponte Preta vs Coritiba Predictions

Tuesday’s Serie B action sees Ponte Preta doing battle with Coritiba. It’s a crunch fixture for the hosts, with 3 points needed to keep their promotion dreams alive.

Just mere weeks ago, Ponte Preta looked totally out of the running for an immediate return to the top flight but the return of Gilson Kliena to the Macaca dugout now has them in a position in which if they win their remaining two games, they’ll find themselves back in the big time.

Indeed, prior to him coming in, Ponte were 8 points behind the top 4 and hadn’t won in 8 matches but a stunning run of 6 wins from just 7 matches has seen them shoot up the table and the excellent run of form is now responsible for 33% of the team’s points this season. With confidence sky high in home ranks, 3 points is really the only option going into Tuesday’s game and a packed out Estádio Moisés Lucarelli will be expecting to see them secured.

Meanwhile, it’s been an absolutely disastrous season for Coritiba, who now have nothing to play for and are set to finish in mid table. Coxa had came into the campaign as favourites to top Serie B after being relegated from Serie A with a strong squad but despite having one of the biggest budgets in the league, they’ve fallen well below expectation.

A dreadful run of just 1 win from the last 7 matches ended any hopes of a late revival and there’s not a great deal of confidence in travelling ranks right now. With a significant portion of the squad set to leave when their contracts expire at the end of the year, Coritiba are using the two games that remain to experiment with who will likely be here next season, meaning the likes of Escobar, Vinicius Kiss, Uillian Correia, Alisson Farias, Jean Carlos, Alvarenga and Bruno Moraes will all miss this trip.

Ultimately, there can be little doubt about which way this match is going and that is more than reflected in the odds on offer. Ponte have been ranked as huge favourites according to the bookmakers’ prices and that’s not at all surprising given the form they are in and what’s riding on the game for them.

However, we do see some value in backing the hosts to win in combination with both nets being hit. Coritiba are unlikely to take anything home with them but with no pressure on the game, they can afford to play with an open style and having scored in their last 7 away games, we do think they can hit the net, but it’s unlikely to count for much. 3 of Ponte’s last 6 wins have been by 2-1 margins and that’s the scoreline we fancy seeing come full time in this one.