Aron Wright - May 23, 2018
Palmeiras vs Sport Recife
Brazilian Serie A
Date: Saturday, 26 May 2018
Kick-Off at 23:00 UK / 00:00 CET
Venue: Allianz Parque, Sao Paulo.
Palmeiras will continue the sequence of four consecutive home matches in all competitions on Saturday when they host Sport Recife for their Matchday No 7 clash. Verdao come into the game as massive favourites following back-to-back wins over Junior and Bahia, but they’ll need a strong effort to grab the spoils here knowing Leao will travel to Sao Paulo with an improved confidence after claiming a point against the defending champions Corinthians last time out.
The hosts have a chance to jump above Atletico Mineiro who are just two points away at the very top of the standing (at least for a day) with a three-pointer here. They’ll have to do it without the star man Miguel Borja who has been called up for the preliminary Colombia squad for the World Cup and will skip Sport’s visit. All eyes will thus be on Willian who is the only man with two or more goals in this season after netting one of team’s three in a demolishing victory over Bahia last weekend.
Claudinei Oliveira’s troops will be highly encouraged after holding the likes of Corinthians to a 1-1 draw last weekend. Nevertheless, we can still hardly see them on the scoresheet against last term’s runners-up here knowing that Palmeiras are yet to concede in front of the home crowd this season.
Verdao won two and drew one of three home games in Serie A and we have to back them to keep a clean sheet against an outfit which has failed to find the back of the net in two of three away fixtures so far in the league. You can back Palmeiras to keep a clean sheet at the odds of 1.72.
We don’t expect a goal fest similar to the one from the previous H2H encounter as the hosts will be without their main striker Miguel Borja. Palmeiras to win & Under 2.5 goals FT is thus the standout pick, set at the odds of 3.10.