Fortaleza vs Fluminense Predictions

Saturday’s Brazilian Serie A action sees Fortaleza doing battle with Fluminense at the Estádio Governador Plácido Aderaldo Castelo. The hosts will be looking to claim all 3 points against a visiting outfit in crisis.

When Rogerio Ceni left the Fortaleza dugout for Cruzeiro a few weeks ago, you did fear for Fortaleza and a dip in form would have been far from surprising. However, new boss Ze Ricardo is proving a fairly popular choice and has made a decent enough start to his reign, recently coming from 3-0 down away at title challenging Santos to draw 3-3, prior to claiming his first win in charge with a 2-0 win over Goias last weekend.

Currently 12th and 7 points clear of the drop zone, Fortaleza are well on course to avoid an immediate return to Serie B and can even start to think about securing a continental place. Home performances have been key to their success so far this season and having won 10 of their last 15 home games, including 3 of the last 5, the side come into Saturday’s game full of confidence.

Meanwhile, Fluminense are in big trouble and a shock relegation to Serie B is looking more likely with every passing game. The side currently sit 18th, some 6 points short of safety and are extremely short on confidence at the moment. Oswaldo de Oliveira, who was not a popular choice to replace Fernando Diniz, has not improved the side at all since taking the reigns and fans are already calling for his head.

Flu have now lost 5 of their last 6 Serie A agames, as well as each of the last 3 and having just sold star striker Pedro to Fiorentina, you really do have to fear for them. Indeed, Flu’s last two matches have seen them lose 1-0 at home to both CSA and Avai; the only sides below them in the league and said results have this week seen fans storm the training ground to demand improvement from the players, piling pressure onto an already fragile camp.

Ultimately, it’s more than apparent who are the favorites coming into this game and that’s Fortaleza. They’re a pretty solid and dependable outfit, especially on home soil and it’s hard to have faith in Fluminense securing a result against anyone, given the current manner in which they’re playing.

All things considered, we’re more than happy to back a home win on Saturday and at current prices, said market is exactly where our money is going. Fluminense have lost their last two matches by 1-0 margins and taking into account how weak they currently are, that’s a steak we can see continuing here; with a 1-0 Fortaleza win appearing well on the cards.