Brazilian Serie A
2009-08-08 - Nautico vs Santo Andre
A Sports Betting Pick by Merlin
Football: Brazil, Serie A
Estádio Eládio de Barros Carvalho (Estádio dos Aflitos)
in Recife
Saturday, 8th August 2009 at 6.30pm (local)
NAUTICO (18th - Home Rec : 2-3-3 8:9)
Regular readers will know that Nautico are my team in Brazil, the team I follow, avidly support with tears and smiles, mostly tears, but hell, they're my team ..
Tears are normal, not something to be ashamed of. And talking about shame, you get plenty of exposure to that supporting Nautico - But things are about to change, in fact they started changing Wednesday night when they beat Corinthians 1-0 at home.
This is the 18th game of a 38 game campaign and those with good memories will remember that Nautico were unbeaten for the first 4 games. Then it all went "POP", starting with a 0-3 thrashing at home to Gremio - wait for it... They then went 12 games without a win, 12 games can you believe? Us fans have been suicidal for 2 whole months, until Wednesday last when the sunshine returned.
Nautico are only a small club, with little resources and an even littler squad but what they have got is 11 fighting lions on that pitch and I know for a fact, as I spoke to a couple of players on Thursday night and the mood has changed, optimism and belief has ressurected their Serie 2009 campaign.
The Corinthians coach summed it up when he said , "it was the application and determination of the Nautico players which won the game" - It was the wake-up call...
NAUTICO League Statistics
LEAGUE POSITION: 18th/20
Games played: 17
Wins: 3
Losses: 8
Draws: 6
Away Wins: 1
Home Wins: 2
Red Cards: 7
Yellow Cards: 61
Goals Scored: 19 (from 170 shots/headers on target)
Goals Conceded: 34
Passing Errors: 29.12%
SANTO ANDRE (15th - Away Rec : 2-2-4 9:12)
We previewed Santo Andre the other day and correctly predicted a loss to the darlings of Florianopolis, Avai prevailed 1-0.
That 1-0 loss by no means indicates it was a close game, it wasn't at all.
Santo Andre were well and truly stuffed actully. Avai absolutely dominated the first period, with 3 Santo Andre defenders getting yellow's and the strikers hardly touched the ball.
They played a little better second half but still didn't look like scoring, on the contrary, Avai ought to have had 2 more but failed to slot.Just like Nautico, Santo Andre are having a tough time of it overall and it's gonna be tough for them to get anything in Recife.
SANTO ANDRE League Statisitcs
LEAGUE POSITION: 15th/20
Games played: 17
Wins: 4
Losses: 7
Draws: 6
Away Wins: 2
Home Wins: 2
Red Cards: 5
Yellow Cards: 50
Goals Scored: 20 (from 197 shots/headers on target)
Goals Conceded: 25
Passing Errors: 30.88%
THE BETTING VERDICT :
Do I really have to write out a verdict for you? You know what's coming don't you? Of course you do... It's a Nautico victory here and at a great price to boot.
Nautico have plenty going for them today, they are facing a very poor Santo Andre side, a side that have won twice away from home, but the first was back in May and the other was against a fellow struggler, Fluminense.
Nautico have woken up to the fact that they really must string together some wins, there are no guarantees they will escape the drop at the end of it all - but the players have indicated they will die trying.
Nautico players are really revved up for this and don't expect to lose, the fanuatico's (fans) will be behind them as if it was the Cup Final. All in all, the evironment alone will intimidate the opponents without the determination I know the players have for this game.
BEST BETTING TIP :
It’s NAUTICO straight-up to win at 2.20
