Botafogo vs Bahia Predictions

Friday’s Brazilian Serie A action sees Botafogo doing battle with Bahia. An open exciting game is expected to be in order, with plenty of action at both ends as the two sides fight for the 3 points on offer..

Botafogo’s season kicked off with a very difficult trip to Sao Paulo at the weekend and as expected, the team fell to a comfortable defeat, losing by a 2-0 margin. That ranks as a poor start in charge for caretaker boss Eduardo Barroca, but Friday’s match looks a far more winnable game and the team will be looking to get off the mark in it.

Fogo’ finished last season in 9th place but amidst a poor financial situation, the team will do well to finish that high this campaign. Indeed, the side haven’t looked very strong in the build-up to the Serie A season commencing, losing to third and fourth tier outfits but typically strong on home soil, they’ll be hoping their performances as hosts can at least keep them out of relegation trouble.

Meanwhile, Bahia kicked their season off in an excellent manner, beating Corinthians 3-2 at home in a thrilling encounter for the neutral. The side displayed a real ability to counter attack with quality in said match and that’s a trait they’ll be looking to demonstrate once again in Friday’s game.

The visitors finished in 11th place last season and that’s around about the area they are expected to finish in once again this campaign. They have enough quality to stay out of relegation danger but really challenging at the top end of the table looks a big challenge, although a positive result here could well see expectation levels begin to rise.

Ultimately, we’re expecting both teams to go for the win here and as such, it should be an entertaining match. Botafogo will want to make up for their opening day defeat, whereas Bahia are in confident mood following their win last time out.

All things considered, backing both teams to score looks the way to play as far as the betting goes and is exactly where our money is going. Both teams have scored in 6 of Botafogo’s last 7 games as well as in Bahia’s last 3 away games and given that 4 of the last 6 meetings between the two have also seen goals at both ends, both of said sequences could well continue in a 1-1 draw.