Santos vs Fortaleza Predictions

Sunday’s Brazilian Serie A action sees league leading Santos doing battle with Fortaleza in Vila Belmiro. The hosts arrive as big favourites to claim all three points and will be looking to do exactly that.

Santos looked like they’d developed into an incredibly consistent outfit under Jorge Sampaoli but they’ve hit a slight wobble in recent weeks, recording back to back defeats to Sao Paulo and Botafogo respectively. Nonetheless, those two trips both ranked as undeniably tough matches and the side will be confident in getting things back on the right track on Sunday.

After 15 games, Santos currently sit top of the Serie A table and will fancy their chances of going on to win the title, with the benefit of not being involved in other competitions, as the sides around them are. Failure to win on Sunday could see them knocked off the top however, but confidence can be high in getting the job done, having recorded 7 wins from their last 8 home league games, including in each of the last 4.

Meanwhile, things were running along nicely for Fortaleza in their quest to avoid an immediate return to Serie B but a real stumbling block has now been hit, with boss Rogerio Ceni having departed for Cruzeiro. Ceni played a huge role in gaining promotion and had the team looking very competitive so far this season, leaving big shoes to fill.

New boss Ze Ricardo didn’t get off to a great start last weekend, losing 1-0 at home to an Internacional outfit that rotated heavily and he clearly has a big job on his hands to raise spirits around the club. Also having lost 4 of their last 6 away games, confidence cannot be high in Fortaleza ranks coming into this game and it’s fair to say their prospects look bleak as regards securing a positive result.

Ultimately, this is a match we are expecting Santos to win and win comfortably. They are in far better shape than Fortaleza, as the 15 points between the sides in the table shows and man for man, are simply a far stronger team than the visitors, who arrive in a less than convincing state.

All things considered, it’s backing Santos on the -1 handicap that has captured our attention as far as the betting is concerned and is exactly where our money is going. Santos have scored a huge average of 2.64 goals a game over their last 8 home games and we fancy them to be in rampant form once again on Sunday, with a 3-0 margin of home victory well on the cards.