Atletico Paranaense vs Coritiba
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Today’s free tip is in the Brazilian Serie A encounter between Atletico Paranaense and Coritiba.
Despite a strong start to the season, Coritiba have since opted to revert back to their usual setting by becoming distinctly average. A team with their level of organisation should not realistically be included in the relegation battle but without scoring enough goals, that’s precisely where they’ve found themselves. Still, the bottom of Serie A this season – barring Atletico Goianiense, who are goners – is incredibly tight so there’s no time for tears just yet.
Coritiba have failed to win any of their past three games. That’s hardly the end of the world but when you consider that they’ve failed to score in all three games, one of which was against doomed Atletico Goianiense and another of which was against Vitoria (who have one of the worst defensive records in the division), you can hear the alarm bells starting to ring. They lack goals, as I’ve said, but they also lack the quality to play another style other than their “defend first, attack later” approach. If they push out, teams will destroy them – it’s that simple. That’s the problem that experienced boss Marcelo Oliveira has right now.
So what have Coritiba done to correct this problem? Not a lot that I am impressed with, really. In July they re-signed Keirrison for maybe the 50th time now, and I don’t know if that can help them at all. Once upon a time, he was a really promising striker, enough so for Barcelona CF to splash the cash to take him to the Nou Camp. However, it never worked out for him and injuries got the best of him. Now he’s in a position whereby he’s not scored more than ten goals in a campaign for nearly ten years, despite playing at levels lower than the one he’s currently at. Can this man save Coritiba? I really don’t know. He’s one of their own academy graduates so perhaps that can inspire the team/fans on occasion, but I don’t see him having the quality nor fitness to score the goals that Alecsandro has surprisingly failed to score this season.
Basically, Coritiba have strength and experience in their midfield and their defence. This team will not get ripped apart by any Serie A club right now, not with someone like Marcelo Oliveira in charge. However, we’re now at a stage of the season where tactical draws on the road are no longer of any use. Coritiba need to win games and it should concern them greatly that the only three teams to have won less games than they have in this campaign currently occupy the bottom three places in the Serie A table. There are some teams that Coritiba can beat at this level, or at least teams I trust them to give a good game to. I don’t see Atletico Paranaense being one of them, however.
The home team have made a living out of being a nightmare to face on their own patch for every team in Brazil for as long as I care to remember now. That alone has seen them earn places in continental competitions so don’t underestimate them. On the road, by all means oppose them regularly – they seldom show up on such occasions. At home, they’re excellent, and even though the current campaign hasn’t gone as swimmingly as they’d have liked, they’re still not a team to underestimate.
Atletico Paranaense have won their last two home games in a row, scoring nine goals and shipping just one. Their attack-minded approach makes it very easy for them to score goals, assuming they’ve got players on the pitch to actually do so. I daresay that Eduardo da Silva was brought in for that purpose but as per usual, injuries and general laziness have ensured that’s not been the case. They’ve looked a lot more dangerous going forward since they brought Ribamar in from 1860 Munich, however. He’s not set the world alight – just added more energy and consistency – but that’s all that Atletico Paranaense have been lacking. That has naturally made them a lot harder to handle for their opponents.
Atletico Paranaense still have their flaws, of course. Defensively speaking, they’re not able to cope with good attackers. Fortunately for us, they won’t find any against Coritiba unless Keirrison decides to roll the clock back a decade. Besides, Thiago Heleno does a very good job of keeping things organised, all things considered. It’s not so easy to do that in a team that wants to get forward regularly but he ensures it’s at least partially achieved. I love that they’ve got Lucho Gonzalez in midfield, though – he’s easily my favourite player of theirs. He’s a proper match-winner and is usually integral in winning high importance games like today’s match against Coritiba. He brings a fairly young team a lot of experience and composure, just like Thiago Heleno in defence, and with the pace that they have up front, it’s easy to see why Atletico Paranaense are not a simple side to overcome.
To me, Atletico Paranaense have more going for them than Coritiba. They’ve got more options going forward, and they’ve looked good lately too. Despite this match being a big derby, I believe that Atletico Paranaense are going to find a way past Coritiba here. That’s what has happened on Coritiba’s last three visits, none of which they’ve scored in, the most recent of which was in March this year. Therefore, my call is to take the home win at 4/5.
Verdict: Atletico Paranaense to win at 4/5.
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 to prevent endless questions about my thoughts on certain games. For confidence ratings, you’ll need to go to the members section here.
Argentinian Superliga:
Chacarita Juniors vs Tigre
Godoy Cruz de Mendoza vs Talleres Cordoba
Rosario Central vs San Lorenzo de Almagro
River Plate vs Banfield
Austrian Bundesliga:
Salzburg vs Rapid Vienna
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
AA Gent vs Racing Genk
Standard de Liege vs Sporting Charleroi
KV Mechelen vs KV Oostende
Brazilian Serie A:
Atletico Paranaense vs Coritiba
Vasco da Gama vs Gremio
Santos vs Corinthians
Sport Recife vs Avai
Vitoria vs Fluminense
Botafogo vs Flamengo
Chapecoense vs Cruzeiro
Bulgarian A PFG:
Dunav 2010 vs Vitosha Bistritsa
Botev Plovdiv vs Levski Sofia
Croatian Prva Liga:
Lokomotiva Zagreb vs Inter Zapresic
Dinamo Zagreb vs Rudes
Czech Republic Synot Liga:
Mlada Boleslav vs Zbrojovka Brno
Vysocina Jihlava vs Dukla Prague
Sparta Prague vs Karvina
Danish Superligaen:
Lyngby vs FC Helsingfor
FC Copenhagen vs FC Midtjylland
OB Odense vs Brondby
English Premier League:
Burnley vs Crystal Palace
Swansea City vs Newcastle United
Faroese Meistaradeildin:
Vikingur Gotu vs 07 Vestur Sorvagur
HB Torshavn vs TB/FCS/Royn
NSI Runavik vs Skala
KI Klaksvik vs IF Fuglafjordur
B36 Torshavn vs EB/Streymur
Finnish Veikkausliiga:
PS Kemi Kings vs JJK Jyvaskyla
Ilves vs RoPS Rovaniemi
Finnish Ykkonen:
GRIFK vs TPS Turku
French Ligue 1:
AS Saint-Etienne vs Angers SCO
Olympique Lyonnais vs En Avant Guingamp
Olympique de Marseille vs Stade Rennais
German Bundesliga:
Hertha Berlin vs Werder Bremen
Schalke 04 vs VfB Stuttgart
Hungarian OTP Bank Liga:
Fehervar vs Szombathelyi Haladas
Paksi SE vs Budapest Honved
Icelandic Urvalsdeild:
Vikingur Reykjavik vs Stjarnan Gardabaer
FH Hafnarfjordur vs UMF Grindavik
IA Akranes vs KA Akureyri
Valur Reykjavik vs Breidablik Kopavogur
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Hapoel Ra’anana vs Maccabi Netanya
Hapoel Acre vs Maccabi Haifa
Italian Serie A:
Internazionale vs SPAL
Atalanta Bergamo vs Sassuolo
Cagliari vs Crotone
Hellas Verona vs AC Fiorentina
SS Lazio vs AC Milan
Udinese vs Genoa
Benevento vs Torino
Bologna vs SSC Napoli
Dutch Eredivisie:
Heerenveen vs PSV Eindhoven (5) 2-2
FC Utrecht vs Roda JC Kerkrade (7) 1-0
Sparta Rotterdam vs Twente Enschede (4) 2-1
AZ Alkmaar vs NAC Breda (7) over 2.5 goals
Groningen vs VVV Venlo (5) 2-1
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Aalesund FK vs Stabaek
Haugesund vs Lillestrom
Kristiansund vs Tromso
Sandefjord vs Viking Stavanger
Valerenga Oslo vs Sarpsborg 08
Stromsgodset vs Rosenborg BK
Portuguese Liga Sagres:
Vitoria Setubal vs Sporting Braga
Vitoria Guimaraes vs Boavista
Estoril vs Moreirense
Portuguese Segunda Liga:
CD Nacional de Madeira vs Academico Viseu
Famalicao vs Varzim
Penafiel vs Cove Piedade
Leixoes Matosinhos vs Sporting Covilha
Sporting Clube de Portugal II vs Gil Vicente
Arouca vs Sporting Braga II
Russian Premier League:
Dinamo Moscow vs Zenit St.Petersburg
FK Ufa vs FK Krasnodar
Akhmat Grozny vs Lokomotiv Moscow
Spanish Primera Liga:
Deportivo La Coruna vs Real Sociedad
Athletic Club de Bilbao vs Girona
Celta de Vigo vs Deportivo Alaves
Villarreal CF vs Real Betis Balompie
Swedish Allsvenskan:
Halmstad vs BK Hacken Goteborg
Hammarby vs AIK Solna
Elfsborg Boras vs Kalmar FF
Orebro vs Malmo FF
Sirius vs GIF Sundsvall
Jonkopings Sodra vs IFK Norrkoping
Swiss Super League:
Grasshopper Zurich vs Sion
Luzern vs Thun
Young Boys Bern vs Lugano
Swiss Challenge League:
Servette vs FC Schaffhausen
Turkish Super Lig:
Osmanlispor vs Goztepe
Trabzonspor vs Genclerbirligi
Antalyaspor vs Galatasaray
Bursaspor vs Akhisar Belediye
Enjoy your free betting tips!