Athletico Paranaense will be bidding to return to winning ways in the Brasileiro when they continue their campaign at home to Corinthians on Wednesday night.
The hosts will enter the contest off the back of a goalless draw with Fortaleza, while Corinthians recorded a 2-0 victory over Juventude in their last game to rise into second position in the table.
Match preview
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Athletico PR will bring a five-game unbeaten run into Wednesday's contest, having won three and drawn two of their last five Brasileiro fixtures, which has left them in fifth spot in the table on 17 points.
The Red and Blacks, who finished 14th in Brazil's top flight last term, played out a goalless draw with Fortaleza last time out, which followed a 3-1 success over Juventude.
Luiz Felipe Scolari's side have been strong in front of their own fans in the early stages of the campaign, picking up 10 points from five fixtures courtesy of a record of three wins, one draw and one defeat.
Athletico PR will finish the month of June with fixtures against Coritiba and Bragantino, and the fact that they are only one point off third-placed Sao Paulo at this stage is an indication of their impressive start.
The Hurricane have faced Corinthians on 36 previous occasions and have only been victorious in nine of those matches, suffering 1-0 defeats in both league meetings last term.
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Corinthians, meanwhile, will enter this match off the back of a 2-0 victory over Juventude, with Adson and Gustavo Mantuan on the scoresheet in Sao Paulo.
The win moved Vitor Pereira's side onto 21 points from their 11 matches, which has left them in second spot in the table, one point behind leaders Palmeiras on the same number of fixtures.
Corinthians suffered a 1-0 loss at Cuiaba in their last away fixture on June 8, but that is one of just two defeats in the league this term, and they will be eyeing first position in the table.
The Great Team have won Serie A on seven previous occasions, with their last success coming back in 2017, but they finished fifth last term, some 27 points off champions Atletico Mineiro.
Corinthians, as mentioned, recorded back-to-back wins over Atletico PR last term, while they are unbeaten against their opponents here since November 2018.
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Team News
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Athletico PR will again be missing Marlos, Vitinho and Thiago Heleno for this match, with all three players unlikely to return to the field until the end of June.
Head coach Scolari is likely to resist the temptation to shuffle his pack for this match, meaning that the likes of Vitor Bueno, Pedrinho and Marcelo Cirino could start on the bench once again.
Romulo is likely to be given the nod at centre-forward, with Leo Cittadini playing off the left and Tomas Cuello featuring off the right for the home side.
As for Corinthians, a lengthy injury list includes Maycon, Joao Victor, Luan, Fagner, Paulinho and Ruan Oliveira, while Junior Moraes is also still unavailable for selection.
Gustavo Mantuan scored off the bench against Juventude last time out, but Adson should retain his spot down the right, as the latter was also on the scoresheet in the team's last match.
Roger Guedes has already scored four league goals this season and will again lead the line, with experienced attacker Willian set to feature off the left for the visitors.
Athletico Paranaense possible starting lineup:
Bento; Khellven, Felipe, Hernandez, Abner; Moura, Fernandes; Cuello, Terans, Cittadini; Romulo
Corinthians possible starting lineup:
Cassio; Ramos, Gil, Gustavo, Santos; Du Queiroz, Augusto; Abson, Giuliano, Willian; Guedes
We say: Athletico Paranaense 1-2 Corinthians
Athletico PR will certainly be pleased with their start to the campaign, but high-flying Corinthians will be full of confidence heading into this contest. We are expecting a tight match on Wednesday evening but believe that the visitors will have enough quality in the forward areas to secure all three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Matt Law
