Santa Cruz vs Atletico PR Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

Santa Cruz may look back on their weekend Recife derby with Sport as a critical moment in their battle to beat the drop. They led the game 2-0 going into the final 40 minutes and 3-2 going into the final 10 but a late capitulation saw their city rivals run out 5-3 winners. The result leaves Santa Cruz 7 points from safety and just one place off the bottom of the Brazilian top flight.

Their current points tally of 20 will almost certainly need to be at least doubled over the remaining 14 games and that won’t by any means be easy. They have gone 9 league games without a win now and it’s hard to see Santa Cruz being anywhere other than the Serie B next season, as even their home form is poor with 5 of their last 7 matches at the Estádio Jóse do Rego Maciel ending in defeat.

As for Atletico PR, they’re having a solid campaign and are looking good for a top half finish despite a difficult recent run. They’ve had some tough fixtures admittedly but have lost 6 of their last 9 league games. They’ve won 2 of their last 3 though so will be hoping a corner has been turned. Their most recent match was a 2-1 victory against Internacional which came about via a brace from Pablo Felipe and brought some relief after a run of 6 consecutive 1-0 scorelines in Atletico PR matches.

The bookies are expecting this to be low-scoring too but it could just surprise a few people. Santa Cruz appear to have finally decided to throw caution to the wind and only victories are really going to get them out of this mess. They will take heart from aspects of their performance against Sport but they don’t really deserve to be as short as Evens to win this. Their last 10 home league games have resulted in 7 defeats, 2 wins and a draw and against an Atletico PR side that is on the fringes of the top six, they are unlikely to come away with the win.

Therefore, backing Double Chance – Draw or Atletico PR at 8/11 looks to offer value here.