Corinthians vs Palmeiras Predictions

Sunday’s Brazilian Serie A derby action sees Sao Paulo rivals Corinthians and Palmeiras doing battle. The two sides look difficult to separate and it should be a tight and even game throughout the 90 minutes.

Hosts Corinthians were coming under a degree of pressure a couple of weeks ago but are now starting to pick things up and are in good form. Boss Fabio Carille, who lead Timao to the Serie A title back in 2017, found momentum hard to come by initially upon his return to the club but will now be far happier with what he’s seeing on the pitch from his troops.

Indeed, after wrapping an aggregate 4-1 Copa Sudamericana success with a 2-1 win in Uruguay against Montevideo Wanderers in midweek, Corinthians now come into this game unbeaten in 5 matches, of which they’ve won 4. Currently 8th in the table, the hosts will be itching to make further progress in the coming weeks and Sunday’s game is one they’ll be targeting a good result in.

Meanwhile, Palmeiras had hit a somewhat rough patch by their standards in recent weeks but put things right back on the right path in midweek, with a resounding 4-0 win over Godoy Cruz putting them into the quarter finals of the Copa Libertadores. Prior to that Verdao had gone out of the Brazilian Cup and taken 2 points from their last 3 league matches, so it was a much needed result that has the fans off their backs.

Having romped to the title last season, Luis Felipe Scolari’s men are the favourites to claim the domestic crown this year too. With a squad jam packed full of quality, Palmeiras have the ability to go blow for blow with anyone and having taken 27 points from their opening 12 league matches, their start to the season has been strong and they are currently just 2 points behind leaders Santos.

Ultimately, it always tends to be tight when Corinthians and Palmeiras meet and that should be the case again here. Palmeiras are the slightly stronger of the two sides on paper but Corinthians are unbeaten in 9 Serie A home games and will certainly be able to push the visitors with the crowd behind them.

All things considered, backing a draw looks the best way to play as far as the betting is concerned. Corinthians rarely lose at home, Palmeiras rarely lose at all and with the stakes so high with bragging rights on the line, it’s hard to envision anything but a cagey affair that we think could well end in a goalless stalemate.