Sport Recife vs Corinthians
FreeWe’re always looking for new recruits to help us so please click here if you want to find out more about the ways you can help us (e.g. local input, watching games)!
There are 5 bankers and 6 value tips in the Members Section today so feel free to sign up here to see them + team news!
Today’s free tip is in the Brazilian Serie A encounter between Sport Recife and Corinthians.
As a lot of you know by now, I’ll usually give Sport Recife the edge when playing at home anyway. Their pitch will only ever favour them as their players actually know which parts of it are grass, and which parts of it are painted rocks. They’re an experienced group of fellas who work especially hard in home games as they’re their bread and butter for staying up. It might seem a bit mercenary-esque to only properly try in home games but it works for them, for the most part, and they’re certainly not the only Serie A side to take this approach.
This season, just Sao Paulo and Santos have beaten them in Recife, and both of them needed a lot of luck in order to do so, especially Santos. Sport Recife troubled both of them extensively but ultimately paid the price for individual errors at the back and in the final third. There was nothing wrong with their tactics though, and that’s what encourages me to trust Sport Recife in games like tonight’s. They may not have had any luck against two of the other Sao Paulo heavyweights, but Corinthians look more suspect at the back than any of them do right now.
On top of that, let’s not overlook what Sport Recife have done in the transfer market in the week passed, signing veteran creator Thiago Neves. He’s likely to make his debut tonight, and a player like that can be the difference between Sport Recife scoring or not scoring. They’re natural battlers, Sport Recife, and with that sprinkling of inspiration in the final third, they can be a far more effective side than normal. They’re annoying enough to face as it is; with a player like that on their books, they’re suddenly someone that should be more respected.
Corinthians obviously arrive in this game with a good squad, though – there’s no escaping that. Even though they’ve not played enough this season, Boselli and Luan are class acts up top, as is Jo. Araos has come into his own in midfield, and Vital has done well too. Corinthians have become a lot more fluid and effective in the final third this season, which is pleasant to see as they’ve bored the pants off me way too much over the past decade or so with their dour, uninspired football.
This season, however, they’ve been very entertaining. That’s partially because they’ve remembered how to support attacks, and haven’t feared to do so, but also partially because there has never been a more comical team at defending in Brazil’s Serie A than them now. It’s even funnier when you factor in just how good they used to be at defending. Nowadays, this defence of theirs couldn’t keep a cow out. They’re not so bad with their positioning when they have the ball, but the moment they lose it, they look like a fish out of water because nobody in this team looks prepared to press their opponents.
Subsequently, opposing teams get a free reign of how to attack their opponents rather than being shepherded into putting crosses into the box, which generally fail against Corinthians. Unsurprisingly, Corinthians’ opponents thus opt to take the pace route, which Corinthians are seriously bad at dealing with, and that’s why they almost never keep clean sheets nowadays. They’re still good in attack, the Sao Paulo club, but I can’t trust them to win many games anymore because of this almost complete inability to contain teams. Some of their worst defensive displays this season have come against the likes of Fortaleza and Goias too, teams of a similar mould to Sport Recife. If the visitors are to win this one, they’re going to need to score at least twice, in my opinion.
That’s not beyond Corinthians, and they have had a week to prepare for this game whereas their hosts have only had a couple of days, so I won’t be backing either team from a 1×2 perspective. However, I do like the idea of backing both teams to score at 97/100.
Verdict: Both teams to score at 97/100.
Wednesday’s Thoughts
As ever, if there are any explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the remainder of my thoughts on today’s games, see below, although I feel compelled to write that the below are not necessarily my tips but merely my thoughts. For confidence ratings, you’ll need to go to the members section here.
UEFA Champions League:
Olympiakos Piraeus vs Omonia Nicosia
Molde FK vs Ferencvaros
AA Gent vs Dinamo Kiev
UEFA Europa League:
Apollon Limassol vs Lech Poznan
Copa Libertadores:
Defensa y Justicia vs Olimpia Asuncion
Athletico Paranaense vs Colo Colo
Caracas vs Libertad Asuncion
America de Cali vs Universidad Catolica (CHI)
Internacional vs Gremio
Alianza Lima vs Racing Club Avellaneda
Club Guarani Asuncion vs Palmeiras
Brazilian Serie A:
Sport Recife vs Corinthians
English League Cup:
Preston North End vs Brighton & Hove Albion
Leicester City vs Arsenal
Morecambe vs Newcastle United
Fulham vs Sheffield Wednesday
Millwall vs Burnley
Chelsea vs Barnsley
Fleetwood Town vs Everton
Estonian Meistriliiga:
Tammeka vs Nomme Kalju
Faroese Betrideildin:
EB/Streymur vs HB Torshavn
Skala vs IF
Vikingur Gota vs AB
TB vs NSI Runavik
Finnish Veikkausliiga:
Haka Valkeakoski vs RoPS
Inter Turku vs FC Honka Espoo
IFK Mariehamn vs Ilves
SJK vs FC Lahti
Portuguese Liga 2:
Cova de Piedade vs Academica de Coimbra
SL Benfica II vs Chaves
UD Oliveirense vs FC Porto II
Penafiel vs Vilafranquense
Leixoes Matosinhos vs Mafra
Enjoy your free betting tips!