Avai vs CRB Predictions

Tuesday’s Brazilian Serie B sees promotion chasing Avai doing battle with CRB. The hosts arrive as firm favourites to pick up the three points and will be looking to do exactly that.

Avai went into their derby with Figueirense at the weekend in great form, but lost their 9 match unbeaten streak with a disappointing 1-0 defeat. Nonetheless, having came into the campaign with the aim of bouncing back to Serie A at the first time of asking, Avai’s 4th placed standing means they are thus far on course and they’ll be desperate to use Tuesday’s match to solidify their hold over a promotion slot.

Most impressive about Leão da Ilha in recent weeks has undoubtedly been their defensive showings and they arrive having conceded just twice in their last 5 outings. At the Estádio Aderbal Ramos da Silva they are proving even more difficult to break down, having kept clean sheets in 4 of their last 5 in front of the home crowd and for that reason alone they can be confident in returning to winning ways.

Meanwhile, CRB are certainly not vying for promotion and are struggling at the wrong end of the table. It was always likely to be a difficult season for the side after they only beat the drop by 1 point last season and far from one of division’s big hitters, they are in a precarious position once again, currently lying just two points above the drop zone down in 13th.

CRB did manage to pick up a crunch home victory over relegation rivals Sampaio Correa last time out, but they’re typically a far stronger outfit on their own patch and a return to the road will do little to inspire confidence. All in all, the visitors have failed to score in their last 4 away games and having also lost 7 of their 12 matches on enemy territory so far this season, it’s fair to say their prospects do not look bright going into Tuesday’s match.

Ultimately, it’s no coincidence that’s there’s a considerable gap between these two sides in the standings. Man for man, Avai are a far stronger outfit than CRB and having already hammered them 4-0 away from home this season, they look highly likely to beat the visitors once again.

As such, at current prices, we’re more than happy to back Avai to win the match and given the defensive strength they’ve been showing in addition to CRB’s impotency on the road, backing it to be to nil also looks a good idea. We can’t see CRB causing an upset here and fancy the hosts to run out 1-0 winners.