Sao Paulo will be hoping to move into the Copa Libertadores qualification spots when they take on high-flying Bahia in Brasileiro at MorumBIS on Sunday night.
The hosts enter this contest one point off the top six teams in the league standings, while the visitors are in second place, level on points with league leaders Flamengo.
Match preview
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After only managing an 11th-placed finish last season, Sao Paulo have made a decent start to the 2024 campaign, posting 18 points in their first 12 games with a record of five wins, three draws and four losses.
Tricolor Paulista brought an end to a four-match winless streak, which included two draws and two losses by securing a 2-1 win over bottom-half opponents Criciuma at this venue last Friday.
Alisson gave Luis Zubeldia's side the perfect start, finding the net inside the first minute of the match, and Luciano doubled their advantage midway through the half, which was enough to earn all three points with their opponents managing only a consolation moments before the final whistle.
That result marked Sao Paulo's third victory in their last four home games, while the only defeats in six matches at MorumBIS this term came against Cuiaba and Fortaleza, both by a one-goal margin.
When these sides met last season, Sao Paulo were unbeaten, drawing goalless at home before taking all three points at Itaipava Fonte Nova Arena in the reverse fixture back in November.
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Meanwhile, it has been a remarkable couple of seasons for Bahia, who will take the lead in the league standings if they earn a point or better here, albeit only until Flamengo face Cruzeiro later in the day.
Tricolor Bahiaco suffered an opening-day defeat to Internacional on the road, but bounced back from that in style, going eight matches unbeaten, including five wins and three draws before a narrow loss to the league leaders a couple of weeks ago.
In midweek, Rogerio Ceni's men picked up their seventh win of the season, beating Vasco da Gama 2-1, which followed a resounding 4-1 victory over 10-man Cruzeiro last weekend.
Oscar Estupinan has now scored three goals in the last two matches for Bahia coming off the bench, while Thaciano has also found the net in the last two games and continues to keep Biel on the sideline.
However, despite the evident positivity around the club at present, the main area that Baea Maior do Nordeste need improvement is their form on the road, having only won one of their six away games this season, while conceding two or more goals in four of those matches.
Team News
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Sao Paulo are currently missing several key players who are representing their countries at the 2024 Copa America, including Rafael, Nahuel Farraresi, Damian Bobadilla and James Rodriguez.
In terms of injury absentees, Rafinha has yet to feature this season and is expected to remain sidelined for a large chunk of the campaign, while Felipe Negrucci and Pablo Maia are out with a calf and muscle injury, respectively.
Bahia, on the other hand, have only Santiago Arias currently away on international duty, which will likely mean that Gilberto Junior will continue at full-back in the four-man defence.
Nicolas Acevedo has not played a match since December last year due to a cruciate ligament injury and is still some way from returning to first-team action. Everaldo is the team's top-scorer this season with five goals and will almost certainly lead the line in this one.
Sao Paulo possible starting lineup:
Jandrei; Vinicius, Arboleda, Franco, Welington; Gustavo, Alisson, Moura; Ferreira, Calleri, Neves
Bahia possible starting lineup:
Felipe; Junior, Xavier, Kanu, Luciano, Alexandre, Lucas, Ribeiro, Souza; Everaldo, Thaciano
We say: Sao Paulo 2-2 Bahia
While Bahia have made a very promising start to the 2024 league season, their away record is much less impressive with only one win secured in six outings.
Sao Paulo, while not at their absolute best this term, have earned the majority of their points here at MorumBIS, losing only once in their last five home games. This looks a very even contest on paper and we feel there will be nothing to split these sides at the final whistle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
