Tuesday, July 15

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Sports Mole previews Tuesday's Brasileiro clash between Santos and Flamengo, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Brasileiro leaders Flamengo will continue their quest for domestic glory when they visit the Estadio Urbano Caldeira on Thursday to face off against Santos.

The sides have had highly contrasting league campaigns to date, although they both came away with maximum points from their respective most recent outings.

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Match preview

Finishing top in a group that contained Chelsea, Flamengo gave a good account of themselves at the FIFA World Cup en route to a round-of-16 exit to Bayern, but they are now back to domestic duties and wasted no time returning to winning ways by beating Sao Paulo 2-0 on Saturday.

Luiz Araujo and Wallace Yan de Souza Barreto - two goal scorers at the Club World Cup - were back on the score sheet for Filipe Luis's men, who had to wait until the second half to make their dominance count despite being on top for large spells of the contest.

While Flamengo remain level on points with Cruzeiro, the Rio de Janeiro-based outfit are slightly ahead due to their superior goal difference and currently have a game in hand on their nearest challengers.

A lack of defensive solidity compared to their rivals was perhaps Flamengo's biggest undoing in the title race last time out, but 12 games into the new campaign, O Mais Querido have only been breached four times, keeping 9 clean sheets.

Thursday's visitors have also been impressive at the top end of the pitch with 26 goals scored so far, at least five more than any team, and that bodes well for their quest to secure a first league crown in five years.

Fresh off the back of his 34th win in charge of the senior team from a half century of matches, Flamengo manager Luis will now lead his side to an opposing ground where they have come out on top in each of their most recent four trips by a combined score of 10-3 since the turn of the decade.

Having brought back Neymar to the club earlier this year, Santos headed into the current campaign as one of the teams to look out for, but a tally of 11 points from 12 outings represents a largely underwhelming return.

However, Cleber Xavier's men will be hoping their thrilling 3-2 win over Fortaleza sparks a revival as they prepare for the daunting assignment of taking on the division leaders.

After a month of inactivity, Alvinegro Praiano were not in action during the last round of Brasileiro matches and opted to build some match fitness by taking on Desportiva Ferroviaria in a friendly matchup on Friday which ended in a 3-1 triumph.

Outside the relegation zone only on goal difference at the moment, Santos currently find themselves looking anxiously over their shoulders in the battle for survival, with only four points separating 13th-place Internacional from Fortaleza in 19th.

Thursday's hosts have managed just five points from a possible 15 in home matches this term, a record that has to improve if Santos are to steer clear of the drop zone, although their upcoming game against Flamengo is perhaps the worst place to commence a change in fortunes.

Santos Brasileiro form:

Santos form (all competitions):

Flamengo Brasileiro form:

Flamengo form (all competitions):

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Team News

After serving a one-game suspension after Fortaleza, Neymar is available and is expected to return to the Santos starting lineup, most likely at the expense of Tiquinho Soares.

Igor Vinicius was handed 45 minutes in Friday's friendly as he steps up his recovery from injury, but it remains to be seen if the defender will be deemed fit enough to feature here.

Alex Sandro was forced off with a first-half injury in Flamengo's triumph over Sao Paulo, with Ayrton Lucas coming on, and both men are huge doubts to play any part on Thursday after Lucas came off at half time through injury.

This has opened the door for Guillermo Varela to be handed a start at left back, although fellow Uruguayan Matias Vina is also an option.

Meanwhile, Erick Pulgar is set to miss a second straight game for the away side due to a foot problem, meaning Allan should partner Jorginho in the middle of the park. 

Santos possible starting lineup:

Brazao; Escobar, Ze Ivaldo, Basso, Souza; Rincon, Ze Rafael, Rollheiser, Neymar; Barreal, Guilherme

Flamengo possible starting lineup:

Rossi; Varela, Pereira, Ortiz, Franca; Jorginho, Allan; Araujo, De Arrascaeta, Henrique; Plata

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We say: Santos 1-2 Flamengo

 

Flamego are in flying form at the moment and will take some stopping. While we can see Santos putting up a good fight, we fancy a win for the visitors in the end. 

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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