Fluminense will be hoping to end their wretched run of form when they travel to Estadio Governador Placido Aderaldo Castelo to take on Fortaleza in Brasileiro on Sunday night.
O Flu are rooted to the bottom of the table after 14 league games this season, while Tricolor de Aco are comfortably in the mid-table with 20 points in just 13 matches.
Match preview
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Fortaleza will be looking to bounce back to winning ways here after seeing their four-match unbeaten run brought to an end by Vasco da Gama on the road on Thursday night.
Leao do Pici started the match well and were the dominant side for the majority of the first half until Hercules was sent off in the 39th minute. Cruzmaltino took the lead through Mateus Carvalho moments later and secured the points with a Pablo Vegetti goal in the second half.
While that did end Juan Pablo Vojvoda's side's four-match unbeaten run, it was in keeping with their recent away record, as they have struggled for points on the road this season and had failed to win any of their three preceding outings as well.
At home, though, Fortaleza are a different team and enter this contest on a four-match winning streak at Estadio Governador Placido Aderaldo Castelo and are unbeaten at the venue this season (W4 D3 L0).
O Tricolor's last defeat on home soil was in mid-November last year against Cruzeiro, and they have scored in every match since, while maintaining clean sheets in three of their last four games.
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Meanwhile, the 2024 league season has been a complete disaster for Fluminense to this point, having only earned seven points from the first 14 matches and already four points behind second-bottom Atletico Goianiense.
O Flu endured a six-match losing streak up to the end of June when they were beaten 1-0 by Gremio, which proved to be the final match in charge for Fernando Diniz, who led the club to their first-ever Copa Libertadores title last season, beating Boca Juniors 2-1 in the final.
Earlier this week, the club announced Diniz's exit and confirmed the appointment of Mano Menezes as his successor on a one-year contract with the option to extend that by a further 12 months.
The former Brazil national team coach took charge of his first match with O Flu on Thursday night and saw his side bring an end to their losing streak with a 1-1 draw, which was also the first goal the team had scored in over 400 minutes of league football.
The visitors will hope that result marks the start of a turning point for them as they now go in search of their first away point of the campaign, having lost all six matches on their travels so far.
Team News
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Fortaleza will remain without the services of Kervin Andrade who was called up for the Copa America, while Benjamin Kuscevic has now returned to the squad following Chile's early exit from the competition.
In terms of injury absentees, Pedro Rocha, Ze Welison, Emmanuel Martinez and Moises have all been ruled out until the end of the month, while Calebe has resumed training but is flagged as a selection doubt.
Fluminense are currently missing several players through injury, including Lele and Andre, who have not played a minute as yet this season. Isaac, Manoel and Marcelo have now been on the sideline for the last five matches, while Marquinhos has missed four.
O Flu will be able to welcome Lima and Jan Lucumi back for this game, with both players having now completed their suspensions. Jhon Arias is still away with Colombia at Copa America.
Fortaleza possible starting lineup:
Ricardo; Tinga, Britez, Titi, Pacheco; Augusto, Sasha, Marinho, Pochettino; Lopes, Lucero
Fluminense possible starting lineup:
Fabio; Xavier, Carlos, Santos, Barbosa; Andre, Lima, Gomes, Ganso; Cano, Keno
We say: Fortaleza 1-0 Fluminense
While the draw last week would have been a welcome point for Fluminense following a torrid run of results, they were far from convincing in the match and did not do enough to suggest a complete turnaround in form is to be expected right away.
Fortaleza have been excellent at home so far this season and are on a five-match winning streak in all competitions. We feel they will add to that record with another victory in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
