Flamengo vs Cruzeiro Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Sunday’s Brazilian Serie A action sees Flamengo doing battle with Cruzeiro. The hosts will be itching for revenge after losing the first leg of a Copa Libertadores round of 16 clash to the visitors in midweek.

As impressive as this year has been for Flamengo, things are at risk of going off the rails, if recent performances aren’t improved upon. Mengao have now won just 1 of their last 5 matches overall, seeing them lose top spot in the league in addition to being dealt a crushing blow in the aforementioned midweek defeat.

Maurício Barbieri must now try and raise his troops and re-focus efforts. The hosts are only 1 point behind new leaders Sao Paulo and if they can return to form they’ve already shown for most of this season, there’s no reason they cannot be crowned champions come the end of the season. A home record that reads 8 wins from the last 12 will still have confidence high coming into Sunday’s game and those that take to the field will be desperate to pick up the 3 points.

Meanwhile, Cruzeiro did extremely well to hold out in midweek in the Maracana, but will be hard pushed to do so again, given they are expected to make a raft of changes with an important cup match against Santos to come on Wednesday; a competition which is being given priority ahead of league affairs, given the visitors fairly poor standing in Serie A.

Raposa had hoped to challenge for the title this season with an undoubtedly talented squad, but currently 8th and 10 points off the top, that no longer looks a realistic aim, so efforts are clearly being focused elsewhere. Cruzeiro’s away form is a big factor in their underwhelming league campaign thus far and arriving having taken just 2 points from their last 4 Serie A away matches, it’s hard to see confidence being all that high coming into the game.

Ultimately, we cannot see Flamengo failing to beat what is expected to be Cruzeiro’s reserve team and as such, backing the hosts to win on the full time result line provides excellent value and is exactly where our money is going.

Flamengo are typically a powerful host and were quite unfortunate to lose to Cruzeiro on Thursday given the overall balance of play. The loss will surely have angered them and it’s not hard to envisage them providing a good reaction. Cruzeiro are far from convincing on the road and we expect them to fall to a 1-0 defeat.