Santos vs Bahia Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Saturday’s Brazilian Serie A action features a clash between Santos and Bahia. The hosts will be looking to make it back to back league wins for the first time this season.

Whilst it’s fair to say this campaign has been a fairly miserable one for Santos so far, things are finally starting to pick up under relatively new boss Cuca. Peixe first lost on penalties despite an excellent 2-1 win at Cruzeiro in the second leg of a Brazilian Cup clash, but said triumph gave them the confidence to go on and trounce Sport Recife 3-0 in league action last weekend, prior to drawing 0-0 away at Argentine giants Independiente in the first leg of a Copa Libertadores round of 16 clash.

Given they accidently fielded an ineligible player in the latter of said matches, Santos could well find themselves sanctioned with a 3-0 defeat but for now all focus can only be back on league matters, where they find themselves in a pretty perilous position, just two points above the drop zone. Nonetheless, looking in improved shape and now three matches unbeaten overall, confidence is running high in the camp and pulling clear of the relegation spots is the ultimate aim in the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, Bahia arrive off the back of disappointment, having lost a 9 match unbeaten home streak in midweek, going down 1-0 to high flying Internacional. The visitors themselves are only 3 points above the drop zone despite their 11th placed standing and know they cannot afford to allow the defeat to initiate a poor run of form.

However, Bahia have looked very weak on their travels throughout the season so this trip will not be relished. Tricolor are yet to record success on the road in 8 attempts and having lost 5 of their trips, it’s fair to say they look up against it with Santos in improved shape and hungry for three points.

Ultimately, we really like the look of backing a home win in this clash and at a more than reasonable price, that’s exactly where our money is going. Whilst Santos’ squad perhaps does not possess the same quality as in years gone by, it’s still strong enough to believe that it should never have been dragged into a relegation battle and now looks like having the capability to pull clear.

For all their struggles, Santos have remained fairly competitive on home soil, given that 66.66% of their points so far have came there and up against a Bahia outfit that really struggle away from home comforts, we can only see one outcome. Santos have been playing well against some strong outfits in recent weeks and we think they’ll edge this one by a 1-0 margin.