Santos vs Santa Cruz Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

It has been a good week for Santos and a much-needed one with them looking in danger of slipping out of title contention prior to it. They came from behind to beat defending champions Corinthians 2-1 last weekend and backed that up with a 1-0 win on the road at in-form Botafogo thanks to an early goal from Zeca. As a result they are now back to 6 points behind leaders Palmeiras going into the weekend and will be expecting to further close that gap here in what is a very winnable home game. Santos do boast a fantastic home record in the league, with 21 of their last 25 home games resulting in victories and only 2 in defeat.

With Santa Cruz currently just 1 place off the bottom, it’s very hard to see anything other than a solid home win here. Santa Cruz did pick up a vital 1-0 home win against Atletico PR in midweek but they are prone to the odd defensive horror-show and were beaten 5-3 at city rivals Sport Recife only last weekend. They’ve only won away once this season and that was against the only side below them in the league, America Mineiro, so there is little potential for a shock here.

Santa Cruz are 6 points from safety now and with the home stretch fast approaching it’s looking hard to find a path to safety for them. They have won just 4 of their 21 league games since May and 14 of those games have ended in defeat. Given Santos’ formidable home record, there should only be one win here and with Santa Cruz not great at the back, they should be able to put at least two goals between themselves and their struggling opponents.

Given that, backing Santos -1.0 Asian Handicap at 1.850 looks to offer the best value.