Chapecoense will be aiming to get off the mark in the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A when they host Ceara on Sunday.
The Big Green have lost their opening two league matches, while Ceara have taken three points from the first six on offer.
Match preview
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Chapecoense's campaign went from bad to worse in midweek as they lost 3-0 to lower-tier side ABC to exit the Copa do Brasil 4-3 on aggregate.
That followed on from 3-0 and 3-1 defeats to Bragantino and Palmeiras respectively in the opening to Serie A encounters, leaving them bottom of the division.
Ceara also tasted defeat in the cup in midweek, going down 3-0 to Fortaleza on the day and 4-1 on aggregate, but they have at least made a bright enough start in the league.
Guto Ferreira's side lost 3-1 to Santos last week, but that came on the back of a 3-2 victory against Gremio on the opening weekend of the league season.
That leaves Ceara in 11th place after two games, which is where they finished after 38 matches in the 2020 campaign.
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Chapecoense are back in the top flight following a one-year absence and recently-appointed boss Jair Ventura will know the importance of getting some points on the board early on.
The Big Green have won just one of their last seven games, though Ceara's form has not been all that much better over the same period, winning only twice in that run.
Sunday's clash will be the first meeting between the sides since November 2019 when Everaldo Stum scored the only goal in a 1-0 league win for Chapecoense.
The sides have shared two wins apiece in the last four encounters, stretching back to a 1-1 draw in July 2014.
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Team News
Chapecoense have had a number of injury and coronavirus issues to contend with over the past couple of weeks.
Ezequiel, Joilson, Pedro Perotti, Alan Santos, Leo Gomes and Thiago Dos Santos are among those being monitored.
Following his side's midweek cup loss, Ventura may revert back to a similar lineup to the one used against Palmeiras a week ago.
As for the visitors, Fabinho and Felipe Vizeu are their only known injury doubts.
The likes of Wendson, Anderson Jordan and Cleber are pushing for recalls.
Chapecoense possible starting lineup:
Tiepo; Ma.Ribeiro, Solda, Derlan, Busanello; Ronei, Mo.Ribeiro, Lima; Mike, Ramon, Fabinho
Ceara possible starting lineup:
Richard; Buiu, Messias, Lacerda, Pacheco; Mineiro, Sobral, Willian, Jorginho; Vina, Vizeu
We say: Chapecoense 1-1 Ceara
Chapecoense could do with stopping the rot in order to climb off the foot of the table, while Ceara are looking to move into the top half of the division.
Previous games between these teams have often been tight and, while both squads have changed since their last meeting, we can see a similar outcome here.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Chapecoense win with a probability of 42.68%. A win for Ceara had a probability of 29.7% and a draw had a probability of 27.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Chapecoense win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.38%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.53%) and 2-0 (8.14%). The likeliest Ceara win was 0-1 (9.88%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.97%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 9.4% likelihood.
