Brazilian Serie A
2009-07-29 - Palmeiras vs Fluminense
A Sports Betting Pick by Merlin
Football: Brazil, Serie A 2009
Venue: Palestra Itália, in Sao Paulo
Wednesday 29th July 2009 at 9.50pm (local) / 1:50 (GMT)
PALMEIRAS (2nd - Home Rec : 5-2-0 13:5)
Pre-season, Palmeiras were one of my 4 fancies to become 2009/10 Serie A Champions (the other 3 were Corinthians, Sao Paulo and Flamengo).
Current leaders of Serie A, Atletico of Minais Gerais will soon be overhauled by the likes of Palmeiras and I wouldn't at all be surprised to see Palmeiras top of the league within the next 14 days.
Palmeiras are one of the few Brazilian teams that can and do get results both home and away (as can be seen by their record), moreover, this season they remain unbeaten at home and it would be a shock to see them lose at home to today's opponents.
PALMEIRAS League Stats
LEAGUE POSITION: 2nd/20
Games played: 14
Wins: 8
Losses: 2
Draws: 4
Away Wins: 3
Home Wins: 5
Red Cards: 3
Yellow Cards: 47
Goals Scored: 26 (from 160 shots/headers on target)
Goals Conceded: 14
Passing Errors: 36.05%
FUMINENSE (19th - Away Rec : 0-2-4 8:14)
To say that Fluminense are struggling this season is an understatement.
Indeed, at the moment, the Maracana is a dark place for Fuminense as was again witnessed this past weekend when they drew 1-1 with Cruzeiro.
The 2 worst things that can happen to any professional football club is; the fans stay away from home games and those that do turn-up , spend the whole time booing. And the aforentioned humiliating, confidence sapping mega-negatives are what Fluminense are experiencing right now.
FLUMINENSE League Stats :
LEAGUE POSITION: 19th/20
Games played: 14
Wins: 2
Losses: 7
Draws: 5
Away Wins: 0
Home Wins: 2
Red Cards: 7
Yellow Cards: 34
Goals Scored: 13 (from 144 shots/headers on target)
Goals Conceded: 24
Passing Errors: 38.43%
The Betting Verdict
On the face of it Fluminense haven't got a snowballs chance in hell of getting anything here (Palestra Itália), besides their bad recent form and current standing, Palmeiras will know only too well that another home victory will see them top the table for at least 24 hours as leaders Atletico MG play their Round 14 match on Thursday.
Notwithstanding they could remain there after Thursday as the leaders have a tough one away to Flamengo.
This is Palmeiras, Palmeiras, Palmeiras and the bookies know it too going around 1.44 for the home win. We could try and beef the odds up a little by betting half-time & full-time Flu but that may well play into the hands of the enemy.
I will not be greedy and am happy to take the straight home win - Are you greedy?
The Pick :
Palmeiras
BEST BETTING TIP :
The moment of truth, this is where I stick my neck on the block.It’s Palmeiras win straight-up at 1.44
