Neck and neck in the Brasileiro table after the opening nine rounds of matches, Atletico Mineiro and Corinthians will lock horns at the MRV Arena on Sunday.
The hosts had to settle for a share of the spoils in their last league outing against Cruzeiro, while the away side just about saw off Santos courtesy of a narrow 1-0 victory.
Match preview
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Four years on since claiming their third title back in 2021, Atletico Mineiro kicked off the current campaign aiming to bounce back from a 12th-place finish last time out, their lowest in six years.
Shuffling between continental and domestic duty, Cuca's men failed to win any of their opening four league matches before going unbeaten across their five outings since, picking up 11 points from a possible 15.
Galo Forte Vingador have somewhat got their Brasileiro campaign back on track and are also holding up well in the Copa Sudamericana, where they sit second in Group H with eight points from five matches.
Atletico Mineiro failed to find the back of the net for the first time in just over a month in their goalless stalemate against Cruzeiro, although they wasted no time getting back on the scoresheet in Thursday's 4-0 Copa do Brasil rout of Maringa.
Sunday's hosts will now set out to continue their renaissance with a fourth win in five games across all competitions, but their record in this weekend's fixture of late is far from pretty, with just one win from the last five editions.
However, that solitary victory came in the most recent meeting last July, when a pair of Hulk penalties either side of Yuri Alberto's strike six minutes shy of the interval led Mineiro to a 2-1 triumph.
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Corinthians got their league journey off to a relatively decent start with a win and a draw from the opening two matches, but three defeats from the next four games changed the mood at the Neo Quimica Arena.
Dorival Junior's men have claimed six of a possible nine points since, and their last league victory was the second of three consecutive 1-0 wins either side of wins over Racing and Novorizontino.
Like Mineiro, Corinthians are also up to 13 points from their nine league games to sit eighth and ninth in the standings respectively and both teams are currently just four points shy of a place in the top four.
Nonetheless, Todo Poderoso have some tightening up to do at the back, as their tally of 14 goals conceded ranks third in the division—behind only Juventude and Sport Recife—and first among all teams outside the relegation zone.
Still awaiting a first league victory on the road, Sunday's visitors have it all to do this weekend with one eye on Wednesday's Copa Sudamericana group-stage finale against Huracan.
Team News
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Cadu and Caio Maia are both ruled out with long-term knee injuries and are out of contention to play any part for Atletico Mineiro.
Cuello registered an assist on his return to action for the home side against Maringa but seems to have picked up a knock, which has made him doubtful for Sunday.
Meanwhile, Guilherme Arana and Patrick Silva are both expected to miss out here, although the latter is still in with an outside chance of being passed fit to participate.
Rodrigo Garro and Gustavo Henrique continue to nurse knee injuries, making them unavailable for Corinthians' trip to Belo Horizonte.
Yuri Alberto has found the back of the net in his last two matches for the visitors and will need to continue shouldering a huge chunk of the offensive burden due to the absence of Memphis Depay with an ankle problem.
Atletico Mineiro possible starting lineup:
Everson; Menino, Alonso, Lyanco, Natanael; Gomes, Rubens, Franco; Rony, Hulk, Scarpa
Corinthians possible starting lineup:
Souza; Torres, Ramalho, Caca, Angileri; Maycon, Martinez, Bidon, Coronado, Carrillo; Alberto
We say: Atletico Mineiro 1-0 Corinthians
The last five editions of this fixture have averaged less than two goals a game, and we are anticipating another low-scoring affair this weekend.
That said, we are also backing the home side to claim a hard-fought win at the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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