Corinthians vs Parana Predictions

Saturday’s Brazilian Serie A action sees under fire Corinthians doing battle with rock bottom Parana. The hosts will be looking for a win that would lift the mounting pressure building on them.

Corinthians 1-0 loss at Fluminense in mid-week saw them continue to struggle under the watch of Osmar Loss, whose job will surely come under threat should performances not improve. Timao have looked a shadow of the side they were prior to Fabio Carille leaving the dugout and the squad are very clearly struggling to adapt to the methods of Loss.

16 points behind leaders Sao Paulo, it’s now very clear that the hosts won’t be retaining their title and they’re also at real risk of missing out on a Copa Libertadores spot. With an important round of 16, second leg tie against Colo Colo to come midweek in said competition, some changes could be made for Saturday’s match but those that take to the pitch will be desperate to end a run of form that now reads 4 defeats from the last 5 games.

Visiting Parana certainly look the perfect opponent to do that against, arriving in very poor condition. After coming up from the second tier last season, Tricolor da Vila were expected to struggle heavily and so it has proved, with the squad looking far short of the quality required to stay in Serie A and currently sitting 5 points adrift of safety with just 15 points from 20 matches.

Claudinei Oliveira has recently came in as manager as Parana look to pull off the greatest of escapes. The side first lost 1-0 away at Internacional under his watch but a home draw with Sao Paulo does at least provide some reason for encouragement. Nonetheless, the side have been fairly competitive at home all season and a return to the the road here, where they have lost the 7 matches, gives little reason for encouragement in visiting ranks.

Ultimately, as poor as they’ve looked under Loss, Corinthians have still remained a fairly powerful force on their own patch, losing just 1 of the last 8 games there whilst winning 4 times.

Considering they’ve kept clean sheets in 5 of their last 6 home matches and face a Parana side that have failed to scored in the latter 6 of their away defeats, backing a home win to nil really appeals in Saturday’s clash and that’s exactly where our money is going. For all their struggles, Corinthians should have far too much quality for Parana and we fancy them to claim maximum points with a 2-0 margin of victory.