Flamengo will be looking to continue their pursuit of leaders Atletico Mineiro in the Brasileiro table when they welcome Juventude to Rio de Janeiro.
The home side are currently second in the division, 11 points behind leaders Atletico Mineiro, while Juventude currently occupy 15th, having picked up 28 points from their 25 league games this term.
Match preview
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Flamengo returned to winning ways in the Brasileiro last time out, as second-half goals from Pedro and Michael - who netted a brace - helped them record a 3-0 victory away to Fortaleza.
The reigning champions have won 13, drawn three and lost six of their 22 league matches this season to collect 42 points, which has left them second in the table, 11 points behind Atletico Mineiro.
Flamengo have two games in hand over the current leaders and will certainly believe that they can catch them in the coming weeks, but a win in this match is absolutely vital.
Renato Gaucho's side are currently on a six-game unbeaten run in all competitions, while they have picked up eight points from their last four league matches since losing at home to Gremio.
Flamengo now have back-to-back home games in the league against Juventude and Cuiaba, while a busy end to September will also see them take on Fluminense and Atletico Mineiro in the league.
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Juventude, meanwhile, will enter the contest off the back of a 1-1 draw with America Mineiro, with Dawhan cancelling out an early opener from Juninho in the clash at Estadio Alfredo Jaconi.
Juve, who were promoted from Serie B last term, have won six, drawn 10 and lost nine of their 25 league matches this season to collect 28 points, which has left them in 15th spot in the table.
Marquinhos Santos's side are winless in their last three in the league but have only suffered one defeat, holding Palmeiras and America Mineiro to low-scoring draws.
The visitors actually lead the overall head-to-head table against Flamengo, having won five and lost just three of their 11 previous encounters, while there have also been three draws.
Juventude recorded a 1-0 victory when the two teams locked horns back in June, meanwhile, with Matheus Peixoto scoring the only goal of the contest in the 25th minute.
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Team News
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Flamengo will again be without the services of David Luiz, Diego, Gustavo Henrique and Giorgian de Arrascaeta through injury, while Mauricio Isla, Gabriel Barbosa and Everton Ribeiro are all on international duty.
The home side did not pick up any fresh injuries in their win over Fortaleza, though, and it would not be a surprise to see the same starting team take to the field.
Michael scored a brace last time out and should feature on the left, with Pedro, who was also on the scoresheet against Fortaleza, leading the attack.
As for Juventude, Elton is out for the remainder of the season with a serious knee injury, but the visitors are otherwise in excellent shape heading into the contest.
Head coach Santos will have been pleased with his team's performance against America Mineiro last time out, so the same starting XI could take to the field.
Ricardo Bueno is set to lead the line, with Marcos Vinicios and Paulinho Boia in support, while Dawhan should be joined by Jadson and Guilherme Castilho in midfield.
Flamengo possible starting lineup:
Batista; Matheuzinho, Caio, Pereira, Luis; Maia, Arao; Vitinho, Pereira, Michael; Pedro
Juventude possible starting lineup:
Friedrich; Macedo, Mendes, Forster, Matheus; Castilho, Jadson, Dawhan; Vinicios, Bueno, Boia
We say: Flamengo 1-0 Juventude
Flamengo will again be missing some key players for this match, and there is no question that this is a potential banana skin for the home side. Juventude are capable of picking up a positive result, but we believe that Flamengo will just about do enough to secure an important three points.
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 Flamengo win with a probability of 75.87%. A draw had a probability of 16.7% and a win for Juventude had a probability of 7.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Flamengo win was 2-0 with a probability of 15.96%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (14.6%) and 3-0 (11.62%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (7.6%), while for a Juventude win it was 0-1 (3.48%). The actual scoreline of 3-1 was predicted with a 6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Flamengo would win this match.
