Sao Paulo are hoping to extend their unbeaten run in the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A to six games when they travel to the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro to face Fluminense on Sunday.

After 19 league matches, Tricolor are in seventh, just three points behind Corinthians and a qualification spot in the Copa Libertadores next season, while the former six-time Serie A champions have gotten themselves out of the relegation zone, currently in 15th but only three points behind Flu in the table.

Match preview

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A four-game unbeaten streak in league play from the end of August to the beginning of September has enabled Fluminense to climb up the standings, with as many wins as losses so far (six).

In 2020, they took a big step forward with their fifth-place finish, but with only four wins in their first 15 fixtures this year, it was not the direction that the club had hoped for, and Roger Machado took the fall and was replaced as manager by Marcao.

With their new coach in place, they are starting to find a little more consistency in their game, particularly in Serie A, having recently collected eight out of a possible 12 points in league play.

Even though they did not have as many scoring chances in their last game on Tuesday, they were a lot sharper in the final third, scoring on their only two efforts on target as they edged Chapecoense 2-1 despite having only 45% possession.

Defensively, this side looked a lot more composed in the latter stages of that game than they have in a long time, rarely being pressured late in that match.

That was a sharp contrast from how they have looked in previous league fixtures in 2021, as they conceded six goals in all competitions last month in the final 20 minutes, including a late goal in both legs of their Copa Libertadores quarter-final tie with Barcelona SC, which eventually led to their elimination.

In their opening match this season versus Sao Paulo, they were able to keep them quiet in the attacking zone despite having only 28% possession as they maintained a clean sheet and held them to only three shots on target.

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The Tricolor Paulista side that we are used to seeing seem to have finally emerged after a very rough beginning to this campaign, where they went winless in their opening nine games and were at risk of being relegated.

It has taken a while for this team to get going, but it looks like the players are starting to buy into what manager Hernan Crespo has preached, particularly on the defensive side, where they have maintained three shutouts in their last 10 matches in all competitions.

While it appears that they are out of the woods in terms of relegation for the moment, being in 15th position is not where this team envisioned themselves to be, especially given the fact that they have only finished outside of the top 10 once in a domestic season since 2005.

The fact that they are only four points away from potentially dropping down into Serie B, and given how often managers in this league are sacked, Crespo knows that just surviving this top-flight season might not be enough for him to keep his job.

That alone should give the former Argentina striker enough motivation to keep his team focused on winning and on getting them back near the top of the table.

There are still plenty of games to be played, but their next two fixtures will be of critical importance to a team aiming to earn a spot in the Copa Libertadores next year, as they face Flu and then Athletico Goianiense, two sides who are eight and seven places above them respectively in the standings, although only three points separate Sao Paulo from both teams at the moment.

A 5-1 defeat to Flamengo in late July seemed to have struck a chord with this team, who are not used to losing in that fashion and have played with a lot more conviction since then, while also eliminating a lot of needless mistakes, losing only once in all competitions since that point.

Team News

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Marcao made four changes to the starting 11 against Chape from the side that initially featured versus Juventude as Danilo Barcelos took the place of Egidio in defence, Nonato replaced Matheus Martinelli in the midfield and Raul Bobadilla and Luiz Henrique were preferred in the attack over Fred and Jhon Arias.

Nino, Samuel Xavier and Luccas Claro have started at the back in eight consecutive matches in all competitions for Fluzao.

Goalkeeper Marcos Felipe remains stuck on six clean sheets for the season, with his last one coming at the end of August in a 2-0 win over Bahia.

Reinaldo scored his first goal of the season for Sao Paulo in their previous game against Juventude, but it was not enough to earn his team three points as goalkeeper Tiago Volpi conceded in injury time as they came away with a single point.

Emiliano Rigoni has become one of the go-to players in attack for this side, leading them in assists with four in the Serie A thus far and adding another two goals in league play, putting him one back of Pablo for the team lead.

Walce is the only injury concern for Sao Paulo as he has a cruciate ligament rupture, while Crespo made only two changes from the team that started in their Copa do Brasil tie with Fortaleza to the team that began their league fixture with Juventude, going with a back three versus Juve with Dani Alves being the odd man out as Igor Vinicius started in the midfield and at striker Luciano took the place of Pablo.

Fluminense possible starting lineup:
Felipe; Barcelos, Claro, Nino, Xavier; Yago Felipe, Nonato, Martinelli; Hernandez, Fred, Bobadilla

Sao Paulo possible starting lineup:
Volpi; Leo, Costa, B. Alves; Reinaldo, Luan, Sara, Gomes; Benitez; Eder, Rigoni

We say: Fluminense 1-2 Sao Paulo

Both sides seem to have found their footing in the Brasileiro Serie A and even though they did not show it early on, Sao Paulo are the superior side, and they are unbeaten in their last three road matches away from home in league play.

Written by
Joel Lefevre

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