Sport Recife will try to end their two-match losing run at home when they host Fluminense at Estadio Adelmar da Costa Carvalho on Saturday.
Leao are winless in their last six league matches, while Flu drew 0-0 with Ceara on Wednesday and are currently 10th in the league standings.
Match preview
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After narrowly escaping relegation a season ago, Sport Recife are in danger of dropping out of the top tier of Brazilian football, with a mere seven points from their opening 10 matches.
In a league with plenty of goals, this side have struggled in that department, notching only five strikes in this campaign, the second-fewest among clubs in the Brasileiro Serie A.
They have scored first on only two occasions this season and have been held without a goal six times already this year.
They are only one point adrift of salvation in the top flight, behind Sao Paulo, and they could move as high as 14th in the standings with a victory and a little help this weekend.
Manager Umberto Louzer's side have been second best in most of their games this season, with fewer shots on target in half of their league fixtures to this point.
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A solid start to the month of June for Tricolor ended on a sour note, losing 4-1 to Athletico Paranaense after starting the month with back-to-back wins in all competitions.
They carried the bulk of the play on Wednesday, with 64% possession and out shooting Ceara 18-7 but failed to find that quality in the final third.
So far, after 10 league fixtures, this side have failed to win a single game when holding more possession than their opponents.
As they get set to play consecutive league matches against teams in the relegation zone in Sport Recife and Gremio, six points are there for the taking, which could move them further up into the top half of the table.
Roger Machado has seen his side fight hard away from home, losing only one of their league matches on the road so far, including a 2-2 draw with the co-leaders Bragantino.
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Team News
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Expect winger Leandro Barcia to miss another game with a knee injury, while right-back Patric tested positive for COVID-19 at the end of June and striker Paulinho is out with a yellow card suspension.
Their goalkeeper Mailson has three clean sheets so far in 2021, two of which have come at home, while Marcao ended this team's three-game scoreless drought with a goal in the 48th minute on Wednesday.
Flu will be without their centre-back Nino, who has a yellow card suspension, so veteran centre-back Manoel should take his spot.
Their leading goalscorer Caio Paulista is without a goal in his last five matches, and their goalkeeper Marcos Felipe has earned back-to-back clean sheets, having to make only two saves on Wednesday.
Sport Recife possible starting lineup:
Mailson; Junior, Sabino, Thyere, Hayner; Marcao, Ronaldo; Everaldo, Gustavo, Neilton; Andre
Fluminense possible starting lineup:
Felipe; Xavier, Braz, Claro, Egidio; Yago, Cazares; Martinelli, Teixeira, Paulista; Fred
We say: Sport Recife 0-1 Fluminense
Sport Recife have lacked a lot of quality upfront, and while they have kept a lot of their matches close, they appear to struggle in front of their home fans.
Fluminense will take a lot of confidence from their last road win, beating last season's league champions Flamengo, and they have played well against elite teams away from home.
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 Fluminense win with a probability of 35.19%. A win for Sport Recife had a probability of 34.85% and a draw had a probability of 30%.
The most likely scoreline for a Fluminense win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.89%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (7.11%) and 0-2 (6.79%). The likeliest Sport Recife win was 1-0 (12.81%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.5%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 7.1% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Fluminense would win this match.
