Palmeiras and Fluminense go head to head on Saturday night with just one point separating the two clubs in Brazil's top flight.
As well as holding a game in hand, Palmeiras would go two points above the visitors if they prevail at Allianz Parque.
Match preview
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Having put together a 12-match unbeaten streak at the beginning of the season, Abel Ferreira was naturally left stunned when his side then suffered four defeats in succession.
Three of those losses came against opposition sitting in the bottom half of the standings, while the setback against Sao Paulo gave one of their rivals an advantage in the title race.
However, Verdao have successfully turned things around in recent weeks, recording three successive wins and clean sheets to move to within five points of leaders Internacional.
While former Shakhtar Donetsk frontman Luiz Adriano netted three times during that triple-header, Ferreira will be happy to see four of his squad get on the scoresheet.
In total, Palmeiras have recorded seven wins in a row in all competitions, but they will have to be at their best to prolong that streak against their next opponents.
Although Fluminense lost out to in-form Gremio in their last outing, Tricolor had previously been on an eight-match unbeaten streak in Serie A.
After the club finished in 14th position last season, Odair Hellmann will be delighted with the efforts of his squad at the midway point of the campaign.
Wellington Silva, formerly of Arsenal, has established himself as an important part of this group, but Fluminense require more contributions from a squad which have been heavily reliant on Nene and Evanilson.
Palmeiras Brasileiro form: LLLWWW
Palmeiras form (all competitions): WWWWWW
Fluminense Brasileiro form: WDDWWL
Team News
Palmeiras
Out: Jean (knee)
Fluminense
Doubtful: Frazan (knee)
We say: Palmeiras 1-1 Fluminense
On the back of three successive victories, Palmeiras will fancy their chances of continuing their recent improvement. However, we are backing Fluminense to claim a share of the spoils in a low-scoring encounter at Allianz Parque.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:dataData 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 Palmeiras win with a probability of 56.07%. A draw had a probability of 25.3% and a win for Fluminense had a probability of 18.67%.
The most likely scoreline for a Palmeiras win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.82%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (11.67%) and 2-1 (9.2%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.68%), while for a Fluminense win it was 0-1 (7.42%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with an 11.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Palmeiras would win this match.
