Sport Recife vs Cruzeiro Predictions

Saturday’s Brazilian Serie A action sees Sport Recife and Cruzeiro doing battle. A close game is expected to be in order with little likely to separate the two over the 90 minutes.

After making a reasonably strong start to the season, Sport Recife have dropped like a stone and current boss Eduardo Baptista has a huge job on his hands to save the side from relegation. Leão have now lost 9 of their last 11 league outings, a run of form that sees them lying inside the drop zone, 1 point shy of safety.

Sport’s campaign last year went a similar way and they only saved themselves with a late run of form, but with far less quality in their ranks this time around, a similar ending looks unlikely. If the hosts are to stay up, it’s home form that’s going to be key and having seen off Parana last time out on home soil, another strong performance at the Estádio Ilha do Retiro on Saturday is the target.

With Cruzeiro in town, that won’t be the easiest of tasks but Sport have been handed a real stroke of luck, with the visitors’ eyes firmly away from the fixture. Totally out of the title equation in 7th, after a fairly underwhelming season thus far, Cruzeiro are set to field a heavily rotated side for the clash with an important Copa do Brasil game to come in midweek.

Trying to juggle three competitions is proving to be a big ask for Raposa and they take to the field having won just 1 of their last 9 league games. Cruzeiro have also failed to win any of their last 7 away league matches and that means, whatever team is selected, they don’t go into Saturday’s clash brimming with confidence.

Ultimately, neither party has been playing well in the league in recent months but there’s no doubting Sport’ situation is the more alarming one. They look to be heading into Serie B unless drastic change can be found and they really need to start picking up points sooner rather than later.

For all their struggles, Sport have only lost 3 of their 11 home matches this season and with Cruzeiro set to field a weakened team, the hosts should at least be able to put in a competitive showing on Saturday. All things considered, we really like the look of backing the draw and at more than reasonable odds, that’s where our money is going. 3 of the last 4 games between the two in Recife have ended all square and with 4 of Cruzeiro’s last 5 league outings having finished in draws, that’s not a sequence that looks like ending any time soon, with a 1-1 full time score our correct scoreline pick.