Santos vs Atletico Goianiense
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 is 1 banker and 4 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 Santos and Atletico Goianiense.
Teams like Santos generally make my life a nightmare. To be fair to them, it’s only been this season where they’ve been very frustrating to predict from a 1×2 perspective; they’re usually pretty straightforward to anticipate. This season, however, they’ve adopted a new approach. Instead of playing with the ball, they’ve decided to…well, play without it. For clarity, Santos are nowhere near good enough to do that but they’ve had one man bailing them out this season, which is the sole reason their form guide is not more condemning than it is.
That man is striker Marinho, of course. Even in games Santos barely create any chances in, he still finds ways to score goals. He’s been marvellous. At a time when Brazil have been capping the likes of Menino and Weverton, I struggle to understand why Marinho hasn’t been given a chance with the Brazilian national team. It’s not like he’s just been scoring penalties, you know? The goal he scored against Sport Recife, for example, was a thing of beauty! Whilst he’s on the pitch, Santos have a chance of scoring goals, and they really need that because their overall play is generally a long way from being convincing.
It’s hard to imagine that tonight’s game will be any different either, not with Venezuelan creator Soteldo on international duty whilst Uruguayan midfield general Sanchez is injured. Santos are not likely to be able to execute any manner of control on tonight’s game – no change there! – but will still create chances. They’ve also made a very interesting signing in the past few days too, bringing former academy graduate Robinho back to the club. He’s a lot heavier than he was the last time he donned the famous white-and-black jersey, but his return comes at a time when Santos need that bit of creativity and composure. Whether he’ll play tonight or not remains to be seen, but I doubt it for a variety of reasons.
At their very core though, Santos are an attack-minded too. It’s not a coincidence that almost all of their talented youngsters from their prestigious academy are attackers of some kind. The latest one to roll off the conveyor belt is Kaio Jorge, and Marcos Leonardo is not far behind him. They’re a bit like Brazil’s version of The Netherlands’ AFC Ajax Amsterdam – very old-fashioned with their approach; very set in their ways. Subsequently, Santos are always expected to attack, and that’s what they try to do. Without the ball, though, and without any capacity to control games/defend adequately, that’s been…well, problematic. Still, they’re scoring goals, and that’s all I really want from them tonight.
Impressive Atletico Goianiense enter this game as underdogs, but somewhat fancied underdogs, if that makes sense. They’ve been very good at annoying teams away from home this season, playing a somewhat unorthodox defensive style under Vagner Mancini. It’s worked, though – teams have found them seriously annoying to beat. Good teams still tend to manage it, of course, but it’s not been at all pleasant. This style is considered to be most un-Brazilian so Atletico Goianiense haven’t exactly been media darlings.
Of course, there is one team that loves that style of play – Corinthians. Boldly, they attempted to break free of the shackle of their utterly depressing football this season by playing a more adventurous style, which ended up getting their manager sacked. Interim boss Coelho didn’t impress either, so he’s been pushed aside for their new manager, appointed in the past couple of days – yes, it’s Vagner Mancini! That appointment leaves Atletico Goianiense without a manager for this game, and to me, that will significantly impact their preparations for tonight’s game. Ordinarily, I’d expect them to cause Santos problems when it comes to goal-scoring but now? I’m not so sure.
Instead, I believe we’ll see a more attack-minded Atletico Goianiense tonight. In general, it’s a given that teams will concede away from home against Santos so I don’t believe they can even attempt to be as defensive here. Scoring goals against Santos is not all that challenging, and the visitors do have some handfuls to deal with. Ferrareis in midfield, Chico running the channels, and Hyuri in the air, for example. They’re not as clinical as I’d like to them be, but then again, Santos do enjoy conceding so I’m not sure it’ll matter too much here.
The above makes me believe we’ll see an over 2.5 goals game though. At evens, I believe it’s worth the risk.
Verdict: Over 2.5 goals at evens.
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.
World Cup Qualifiers – South America:
Peru vs Brazil
Chile vs Colombia
UEFA Nations League:
Italy vs Netherlands
Poland vs Bosnia-Herzegovina
England vs Denmark
Estonia vs Armenia
Iceland vs Belgium
Croatia vs France
Portugal vs Sweden
Finland vs Republic of Ireland
Norway vs Northern Ireland
Romania vs Austria
Scotland vs Czech Republic
Slovakia vs Israel
Russia vs Hungary
Turkey vs Serbia
Bulgaria vs Wales
Lithuania vs Albania
North Macedonia vs Georgia
Greece vs Kosovo
Moldova vs Slovenia
Belarus vs Kazakhstan
Brazilian Serie A:
Palmeiras vs Coritiba
Gremio vs Botafogo
Santos vs Atletico Goianiense
Athletico Paranaense vs Corinthians
Atletico Mineiro vs Fluminense
Sport Recife vs Internacional
Enjoy your free betting tips!