Cuiaba vs Athletico Paranaense
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Today’s free tip is in the Brazilian Serie A encounter between Cuiaba and Athletico Paranaense.
Trophies are in short supply when it comes to Athletico Paranaense. A title win is never going to happen, and the Copa Libertadores is nothing more than a pipe dream. The Copa Sudamericana, though? Maybe. Just maybe. I think they’ll fancy their chances enough to rotate players ahead of Liga de Quito’s visit next week.
Even if they don’t think that they can win it, anything but rotation here would be really stupid. They had to play at a ridiculously high altitude just a few days ago; those players are not going to be in any kind of condition to play against newly-promoted Cuaiba tonight. A 1-0 loss in Ecuador was actually quite a good result; I’ve seen better teams than Athletico get battered there before now. The big test will come next week. For now, I find it hard to believe that they’ll be focusing on anything but that though.
Therefore, seeing Terans, Marcinho, Heleno, Eduardo, and Babi on the pitch here would surprise me. It’s not impossible, obviously, but it just wouldn’t make sense at this time. The honeymoon period for Portuguese boss Antonio Oliveira is well and truly over; a good run in the Copa Sudamericana might just help keep the dream alive. Focusing on a trip to face Cuiaba would be highly illogical here, and even if they do, they really have lost some of their sparkle lately. I think they’re going to find this fixture no matter what, Athletico Paranaense.
I’ve got to hand it to Cuaiba too. Since promotion, they’ve been really steely customers. Teams have found it so hard to break them down that they’ve only lost four times all season! Four from fourteen! Only Ceara and the top four have a better record than that! The fact that Cuaiba are still in the relegation zone tells you how hard they find it to win games though. Not as hard as Chapecoense, admittedly, but then four teams go down rather than one so celebrations on that front may be rather muted, especially as one of the other teams is Gremio, who are almost certainly going to turn it on in due course and get out of the mire.
Cuiaba need to start turning these impressive displays into wins, basically. Under new boss Jorginho, they’ve only lost once in six games, and they’ve picked up two good wins along the way. They’ve had to fight hard in tough games lately but haven’t had enough luck, drawing with both Internacional and Bahia but they had enough chances to win both. They need to keep the faith, keep grinding, and take their chances as best they can. The Marques red card against Bahia was unwelcome. I know Bahia specialise in winding teams up but you can’t react to it. Now Marques is suspended for a big game like this. They’re lucky that they’ve got Cafu to call upon, although which Cafu shows up is another matter.
Still, I trust in the mental resolve of this team. I trust in their capacity to stop teams getting past them, and their ability to control games. They should have enough in the tank to make things happen as they see fit tonight, and given Athletico Paranaense’s generally casual approach to defending, I’d like to think that Cuiaba would do enough to win this one. With draw no bet cover odds of 83/100, I can’t help but fancy the hosts here; they’re not going to get many better opportunities than this to pick up three points.
Verdict: Cuiaba to win with draw no bet at 83/100.
Sunday’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:
LASK vs Sturm Graz
SCR Altach vs Rapid Vienna
Austria Vienna vs Austria Klagenfurt
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Germinal Beerschot vs Standard de Liege
AA Gent vs KV Mechelen
Cercle Brugge vs RSC Anderlecht
Zulte-Waregem vs Club Brugge
Brazilian Serie A:
Flamengo vs Sport Recife
Corinthians vs Ceara
Fortaleza vs Santos
Bahia vs Atletico Goianiense
Cuiaba vs Athletico Paranaense
Internacional vs Fluminense
Bulgarian A PFG:
Lokomotiv Sofia 1929 vs CSKA Sofia
Arda vs Ludogorets Razgrad
Croatian Prva Liga:
Sibenik vs Hrvatski Dragovoljac
NK Osijek vs Rijeka
Czechia Liga 1:
Teplice vs Baumit Jablonec
Banik Ostrava vs Pardubice
Slovacko vs Hradec Kralove
Slovan Liberec vs Viktoria Plzen
Danish Superligaen:
OB vs Silkeborg
AGF vs FC Copenhagen
English Premier League:
Newcastle United vs West Ham United
Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City
Estonian Meistriliiga:
Vaprus vs Flora Paide
Nomme Kalju vs Tulevik
Finnish Veikkausliiga:
HJK vs IFK Mariehamn
KuPS vs KTP
Finnish Ykkonen:
MP vs Jaro Pietarsaari
French Ligue 1:
Angers SCO vs Olympique Lyonnais
Stade Brestois vs Stade Rennais
Clermont Foot 38 vs Troyes
FC Nantes Atlantique vs Metz
Stade de Reims vs Montpellier HSC
Racing Club Lens vs AS Saint-Etienne
Olympique de Marseille vs Girondins de Bordeaux
German Bundesliga:
Mainz 05 vs RB Leipzig
Koln vs Hertha Berlin
German Bundesliga 2:
Werder Bremen vs Paderborn 07
Darmstadt 98 vs Ingolstadt
Heidenheim vs Hansa Rostock
Hungarian Liga 1:
Zalaegerszegi TE vs Puskas FC
Ujpest vs Budapest Honved
Icelandic PepsiMaxDeild:
KA vs Stjarnan Gardabaer
Breidablik Kopavogur vs IA
FH vs Leiknir Reykjavik
Valur Reykjavik vs Keflavik
Lithuanian A Lyga:
Kauno Zalgiris vs Hegelmann Litauen
Riteriai vs Suduva Marijampole
Dutch Eredivisie:
Cambuur Leeuwarden vs FC Groningen
PEC Zwolle vs Vitesse Arnhem
FC Utrecht vs Sparta Rotterdam
Willem II vs Feyenoord Rotterdam
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Brann Bergen vs Sandefjord
Mjondalen vs Rosenborg BK
Odd vs Haugesund
Tromso vs Valerenga Oslo
Lillestrom vs Bodo/Glimt
Viking Stavanger vs Molde FK
Portuguese Liga 1:
Portimonense vs Gil Vicente
Famalicao vs FC Porto
Santa Clara vs Moreirense
Portuguese Liga 2:
Farense vs Rio Ave
Penafiel vs SL Benfica II
CD Nacional de Madeira vs Vilafranquense
Sporting Covilha vs Academico Viseu
Romanian Liga 1:
Sepsi vs Arges
Rapid Bucharest vs FCSB
Russian Premier League:
Lokomotiv Moscow vs Zenit St. Petersburg
Rubin Kazan vs Krylya Sovetov Samara
FK Krasnodar vs Arsenal Tula
Spanish Primera Liga:
Celta de Vigo vs Atletico Madrid
Barcelona vs Real Sociedad
Sevilla vs Rayo Vallecano de Madrid
Swedish Allsvenskan:
Degerfors vs BK Hacken Goteborg
Mjallby Solvesborg vs Djurgarden
Hammarby vs Elfsborg Boras
Ostersunds FK vs IFK Norrkoping
Swiss Schweizer Pokal:
Widnau vs Grasshopper Zurich
Schoenwerd-Niedergosgen vs FC Basel
Amical Saint-Prex vs Servette
Cham vs Luzern
Someo vs Aarau
Turkish Super Lig:
Istanbul Basaksehir vs Alanyaspor
Antalyaspor vs Goztepe
Adana Demirspor vs Fenerbahce
Enjoy your free betting tips!