RB Bragantino vs Fortaleza
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 RB Bragantino and Fortaleza.
I’ve praised Fortaleza a lot this season because they’ve deserved it. It may not be so uncommon for a team to be promoted from Serie B with good attacking football on the agenda. However, to be as flexible and effective as Fortaleza have been was something else altogether, and it’s not like they simply bought their way to it, unlike tonight’s hosts, who are yet another club under the Red Bull umbrella.
Unsurprisingly, I wasn’t the only one to notice Fortaleza’s displays being a hell of a lot better than they should have been able to produce. They’ve got a couple of seasoned veterans in their squad but there’s nothing more than that, really. No, the buck stopped with Rogerio Ceni, the ex-Sao Paulo goalkeeping legend; the one that never really seemed to enjoy being between the sticks! I wouldn’t have had him down as the managerial type, but it’s nice to still be surprised sometimes. He made Fortaleza fun, hard-working, effective, and seriously hard to beat. I genuinely don’t think I saw them get outplayed by any opponents whilst he was in charge, even if they ended up losing.
Note the ‘was’, though. Yes, another club snapped the talented manager up in November. I did wonder if Torrent had ticked enough boxes at Flamengo or not this season, and it proved to be that he hadn’t. I find that ironic because they kept the Spaniard during his harder period at the helm, and sacked him during his best period. Still, I do think the reigning champions looked a bit sloppy and ineffectual under him, and a change was needed. I didn’t for one second think that they’d appoint Ceni, though – that took balls. I like it, though. He can make this team entertaining again, given time. They’ve got the best players in the country so the right manager will win titles with this team; no questions asked.
Anyway, I digress; the point is that Fortaleza had to replace him. The man to do so was Marcelo Chamusca, who takes charge for the third time, if my memory serves me correctly. He was poached by Atletico Goianiense during his first tenure, sacked in his second one, so it’ll be fun to see what develops this time around. He’s inherited a good squad of hard-working players that know their worth after a very good campaign. However, in all honesty, I can’t see it lasting.I don’t think he’s a good enough manager, and some of these lads have done enough to earn moves elsewhere in 2021.
For now, Fortaleza are still battling well, and they’re not losing many. They had a tough time when Chamusca first returned, but they’ve been drawing games rather than losing since then. The problem with this team has always been scoring goals, though. They create a lot of chances in general, but don’t have a good conversion rate. They’re creating and converting less now that Ceni has gone too, which is why they’re not winning. That’s another problem for another day though. Tonight, they have to contend with some serious issues with absentees. Dias has been out for a month now, and fellow midfielder Marlon has now joined him on the sidelines. With veteran striker Wellington Paulista also out, this basically obliterates Fortaleza’s chances of scoring goals and controlling this game enough to stop their opponents, which is needed against a slick team like RB Bragantino. Bluntly put, they need a miracle to escape this encounter unscathed.
The project at RB Bragantino is large. They’ve already invested far more money in their squad than I can recall any newly-promoted Serie A side making. I don’t doubt their success in years to come either. For now, they’re still feeling their way around, trying to find a combination that works. Earlier in the season, they were far too open, which led to far more over 2.5 goals games than it did wins. That was what prompted a change of manager in September, bringing in Mauricio Barbieri. That didn’t change much for a while but they have been playing well of late, to be fair to them.
Unbeaten in five, the relatively young RB Bragantino side have a bit of a swagger about them at the moment. For the first time this season, they’ve actually looked quite composed at the back too. They’ve had to deal with lots of different threats lately, ranging from the industry of Bahia to the finesse of Santos to the slick building from the back of Coritiba to the quick passing game of Fluminense. RB Bragantino have handled all of those challenges with a surprising level of maturity. If they can produce another mature display tonight, I don’t doubt that they’ll win the game as this is a really good time to face Fortaleza.
Attacker Claudinho is one of those to have thrived since Barbieri took over, now having bagged ten in the current campaign. There’s a lot of talent in this squad. As is always the case with young teams, confidence plays a huge part in deciding what kind of results they get. They find it harder to get out of ruts than more experienced teams so it takes them longer. They also only show what they’re capable of on the back of a good run. They’re in the middle of a good run right now so it’s logical to expect another solid display from them, and given Fortaleza’s obstacles tonight, it also seems logical to expect a home win.
Therefore, I’m on RB Bragantino to win at 19/20.
Verdict: RB Bragantino to win at 19/20.
Saturday’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.
Austrian Bundesliga:
Sturm Graz vs Admira Wacker
St. Polten vs Hartberg
SV Ried vs SCR Altach
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Royal Excel Mouscron vs Germinal Beerschot
Cercle Brugge vs KV Oostende
Kortrijk vs OH Leuven
Sint-Truiden vs Sporting Charleroi
Brazilian Serie A:
Athletico Paranaense vs Atletico Mineiro
RB Bragantino vs Fortaleza
Internacional vs Botafogo
Palmeiras vs Bahia
Ceara vs Atletico Goianiense
Goias vs Gremio
Bulgarian A PFG:
Beroe vs Botev Plovdiv
Tsarsko selo vs Levski Sofi
Croatian Prva Liga:
Gorica vs NK Osijek
Varazdin vs Hajduk Split
Czech Republic Liga 1:
Marila Pribram vs Zlin
Opava vs Mlada Boleslav
Ceske Budejovice vs Karvina
Teplice vs Sigma Olomouc
Pardubice vs Zbrojovka Brno
Baumit Jablonec vs Viktoria Plzen
English Premier League:
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Aston Villa
Newcastle United vs West Bromwich Albion
Manchester United vs Manchester City
Everton vs Chelsea
Estonian Meistriliiga:
Flora Tallinn vs FCI Levadia Tallinn
French Ligue 1:
Olympique de Marseille vs AS Monaco
Racing Club Lens vs Montpellier HSC
German Bundesliga:
Bv09 Borussia Dortmund vs VfB Stuttgart
RB Leipzig vs Werder Bremen
Borussia Moenchengladbach vs Hertha Berlin
SC Freiburg vs Arminia Bielefeld
Mainz 05 vs Koln
Union Berlin vs Bayern Munich
German Bundesliga 2:
Heidenheim vs Hannover 96
Darmstadt 98 vs Hamburger SV
Jahn Regensburg vs Holstein Kiel
Hungarian Liga 1:
Varda SE vs Budapest Honved
Ferencvaros vs Zalaegerszegi TE
Fehervar vs Budafoki MTE
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Hapoel Kfar Saba vs MS Ashdod
Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv vs Hapoel Hadera
Maccabi Netanya vs Maccabi Petah Tikva
Italian Serie A:
Crotone vs Spezia
Torino vs Udinese
SS Lazio vs Hellas Verona
Italian Serie B:
Brescia vs Salernitana
Cosenza vs Reggiana
Cremonese vs Ascoli
Lecce vs Frosinone
Pisa vs Pordenone
Virtus Entella vs Empoli
Pescara vs Vicenza
Cittadella vs SPAL
Dutch Eredivisie:
FC Groningen vs RKC Waalwijk
FC Emmen vs ADO Den Haag
AFC Ajax Amsterdam vs PEC Zwolle
Russian Premier League:
Rotor Volgograd vs FK Ufa
PFC Sochi vs Spartak Moscow
Zenit St. Petersburg vs Dinamo Moscow
Spanish Primera Liga:
Valencia CF vs Athletic Club
Getafe CF vs Sevilla CF
Huesca vs Deportivo Alaves
Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid
Swiss Super League:
FC Sion vs FC Luzern
Vaduz vs FC Basel
Turkish Super Lig:
Hatayspor vs Fatih Karagumruk
Kayserispor vs Trabzonspor
Rizespor vs Goztepe
Ankaragucu vs Konyaspor
Fenerbahce vs Yeni Malatyaspor
Enjoy your free betting tips!