Sao Bento vs Ponte Preta Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Saturday’s Brazilian Serie B action features something of a local derby with Sao Bento hosting rivals Ponte Preta. The visitors will be looking to prolong their winning streak by taking the points and bragging rights home.

Having started the season 11 matches unbeaten, albeit 8 of which draws, newly promoted Sao Bento had began to dream of mounting an unlikely bid to promotion. However, three consecutive defeats and a run of four matches without scoring has now brought Azulão right back down to earth.

Indeed, the side now find themselves closer to the drop zone than the promotion spots, currently standing 14th, just two points above the bottom four. Such an alarming run of form and lack of attacking output has cost Paulo Roberto Santos his job and new boss Marquinhos Santos will make his debut in this clash as he looks to inspire a side that now has just three wins all campaign.

Meanwhile, visiting Ponte Preta held hopes of challenging for promotion after suffering relegation from the top flight, but find themselves playing catch up after making a slow start to life in the second tier, something not helped by the fact they’ve had to play all but one of their home games behind closed doors following crowd trouble last season.

Nonetheless, performances have improved markedly since João Brigatti came in as manager and Macaca now find themselves just 4 points short of the all important top four. Under Brigatti, Ponte have now won 4 of their last 6 games and taking to the field off the back of consecutive victories over strong opponents in the form of Figueirense and Fortaleza respectively, it’s fair to say confidence is running high in visiting ranks.

Ultimately, there’s only one outfit coming into this clash with any sort of momentum; and that’s Ponte. The visitors have looked the force many expected them to be in recent weeks and are finally starting to show signs of the Serie A quality they possess in their squad.

With Sao Bento in such poor form and really struggling for goals, backing an away win simply has to be the way to play. Ponte are reasonably strong on the road, having won 2 of their last 3 away games and kept clean sheets in 3 of their last 5 outings on enemy territory and should be able to add to both streaks here with a 1-0 win.