Corinthians hosts Flamengo RJ in the first leg of Copa do Brasil 1/8 finals. The match will be played on Thursday, May 16th at Arena Corinthians (Sao Paulo)
The championship match with Gremio served as sparring for Corinthians on the eve of the cup meeting with Flamengo. After a depressing season, where Corinthians left without any bonus and sank in debt, the club is more interested in winning the cup. However, due to lack of money, it gained a foothold much more modest than Flamengo. The team was once again headed by Carille, who led the team to the championship in 2017, but Jo, who was the trump card, is no longer in the club. On Saturday, Corinthians simply got lost in the defense of Gremio (0: 0), despite the fact that Coringao spent a whole week of full-fledged pieces of training. Thus, the team scored 5 points in the championship that started (1-2-1) and now it takes a modest 12th position. A less saturated schedule will allow not resorting to the rotation, and the regular squad of Corinthians will try to break the defense of Flamengo. The cup matchup consists of 2 games, so Coringao will have to push at home in order to earn an advantage before the return match in Rio. The issue with Pedrinho's talent depends on the doctors, and the coach of Corinthians also can’t count on the strengthening with Jesus and Everaldo, since novices in the cup are registered in other teams. However, Flamengo plays fairly open football and will insist on possessing the ball, so the speed of Clayson and Boselli in counterattacks may be enough for Carille.
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If Corinthians made their way to this stage of the cup, beating Avenida (4:2), Ceara (0:1 at home and 3:1 away) and Chapecoense (2:0 at home and 0:1 away), then Flamengo begins to participate in the tournament only now due to the last year's high position in Serie A. It is very much to the point, because participation in 3 tournaments at once would be a bust. Coach Braga was already on a thread of dismissal - having relied on the victory in the state championship, he did not cope with the distribution of forces and failed the start of the Copa Libertadores group stage. The away defeat to LDU (2:1) led to a scandal, because Flamengo won only once before the last round (1-1-1) in the championship. Everything settled down, because a goalless parity with Penarol was enough for Rubro-Negro to progress to the playoffs; in that match, Braga used the regular squad. Reserves were activated on Sunday, in a home game against Chape.
The hosts won 2-1, so the mood of the management, the fans, the team and Braga himself became better. The main clip’s forces are retained for a cup voyage to Sao Paulo. In the previous match, coach Carille pushed the search for a goal into the background, but another scenario is needed to progress to the next round of the cup. The hosts will have to open and score. Fortunately, Flamengo conceded in the away classic duels of Carioca, as well as in both championship voyages (2:1 and 1:1). The visitors do not have a recipe for defensive power, but there is a chic attack with Gabigol, the top scorer of last year’s championship. Flamengo expects not to lose at Arena Corinthians, as it happened in 2 of 3 previous visits to this stadium (1:1, 1:2 and 3:0). I predict the exchange of goals but without excesses.
Prediction for the match: Both teams to score – yes and Under 4.5 goals scored
