Criciuma vs Sao Bento Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Saturday’s Brazilian Serie B clash sees Criciuma doing battle with Sao Bento. A close game is expected between two sides taking to the pitch off the back of defeat.

Criciuma’s 1-0 loss at Brasil de Pelotas ended a promising 4 match unbeaten run that had them on the way to recovering from a terrible start to the season which saw them lose 6 of their 7 opening matches.

Having finished in the bottom half last season, not a great deal was expected of the hosts this season but few could have envisaged them starting so slowly that they’d lie second bottom on just 9 points after 12 matches. Nonetheless, things have looked brighter for Tigre under Mazola Júnior prior to their aforementioned loss last time out and those that take to the field will be desperate to avoid making it back to back defeats in this one.

Meanwhile, Sao Bento had their unbeaten start to the campaign ended by an underwhelming 1-0 loss on home soil to Londrina last weekend. Considering they are a newly promoted side, Azulão have done fantastically well to be so competitive in all of their outings so far and will be desperate to bounce back in this trip.

Nonetheless, as hard as Sao Bento have been to beat, they’ve also found it difficult to claim the three points, with 8 of their 12 matches ending in draws. That’s all the more true on the road, with Paulo Roberto Santos’ troops having drawn a staggering 6 away games in a row.

With those kind of statistics in mind, backing the draw immediately springs to mind and is only reaffirmed by taking into account the type of match we are likely to see. For all their struggles, Criciuma are still a fairly competitive side on their own patch and arrive unbeaten in 3 home games, two of which also ending in draws.

It’s likely to be quite a tight game. We believe that Criciuma are a better team than their current standing shows, whilst it’s hard to imagine Sao Bento keeping pace with the division’s top teams over the whole campaign.

All things considered, a 1-1 draw looks to be on the cards. 4 of Criciuma’s last 9 home games have ended all square, 3 of which finishing 1-1 and with Sao Bento having shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw 5 times already this campaign, it’s a scoreline that simply has to be backed.