Botafogo vs Santos Predictions

Sunday’s Brazilian Serie A action sees Botafogo doing battle with Santos at the Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos. The hosts will be looking for a strong performance in front of their own supporters.

All things considered, with resources that don’t really stand up to Serie A’s elite, Botafogo have made a more than decent start to the season and will be hoping for another good showing on Sunday. Fogo’ returned to action following the Copa America break with a 0-0 draw at Gremio last weekend and the point collected in said trip has them sitting pretty in 6th place, with 16 points from 10 matches.

The side are playing in a consistent manner and aren’t an easy team to beat, particularly on home soil, which will leave confidence high coming into this game. Indeed, the hosts have won 8 of their last 12 home games and having plunged home an average of 1.75 goals a game over said fixtures, it’s apparent they are a force to be reckoned with with their fans behind them.

Meanwhile, although Santos boss Jorge Sampaoli has come under pressure at various points of the season following Copa Sudamericana and Brazilian Cup exits, you cannot argue against the Argentine’s work in Serie A action. After 10 games, Peixe have collected an impressive 23 points and that has them coming into this weekend’s action stationed in 2nd place.

Santos have now won their last 4 league matches and are in strong form, but it remains to be seen if they can sustain that, particularly in this tough trip to Rio. Indeed, although they’ve won their last 2 away matches, Santos are typically far stronger as hosts and they are far from prolific on their travels, having scored just twice during their last 5 trips to enemy territory.

Ultimately, although it’s likely to be quite a close game, you’d have to fancy Botafogo as the more likely winners. They are a very tough nut to crack at home and though they are in good form overall, Santos are hardly known as notoriously strong travellers.

As such, when looking at the odds, it makes little sense for Botafogo to be priced as they currently are and we feel backing them on the Draw No Bet line provides excellent value. At worst, the hosts shouldn’t lose the game but we can envisage them claiming all 3 points, with a 1-0 margin of victory on the cards.