Criciuma take on the visitors Fluminense in the round 16 match of Brazilian Serie A. The match will be played on Friday, July 12th at Estádio Heriberto Hülse (Criciúma).
For a team that was playing in Serie B just a year ago and only finished third, Criciúma is having a pretty good season. The main goal for the "Tigers" is to avoid relegation from the top tier of Brazilian football. Currently, the team is four points clear of the danger zone but lacks consistency, alternating between successful and poor matches. However, there is one nearly constant factor: goals conceded by the "Tigers." Criciúma plays an open style of football, loves to attack, but their defense, to put it mildly, is not up to Serie A standards. As a result, they have conceded 21 goals in 13 rounds of the championship and have kept only two clean sheets.
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It's very unusual to see Fluminense at the bottom of the table, but the fact is that the renowned club from Rio is performing terribly. It's hard to find any fact-based arguments in favor of even a goal for a team that loses to everyone and scores very little. Nevertheless, the "Team of Warriors" has managed to score 11 goals in 15 championship matches. They won't keep losing forever; sooner or later, the players will get their act together and come out of the crisis. After all, in terms of their squad, "Big Flu" is definitely not a team for the lower part of the table. When making a prediction for this match, I am not focusing on the guests' scoring ability but rather on the vulnerability of the hosts' defense.
I won't predict the outcome of the match, as I don't rule out any of the three possible scenarios. I am betting on a goal for Fluminense, which should wake up and climb up the table. Otherwise, they could follow in the footsteps of Santos, who got relegated to Serie B last season. As mentioned at the beginning, Criciúma concedes goals from almost everyone; they have conceded to 11 out of 13 teams in the current championship. Fluminense has scored against their opponents in the last ten meetings. This is just history, but the "Tigers" have historically been a favorable opponent for the "Team of Warriors." The main argument for the guests' goal is the significant personnel losses in the hosts' defense. Two central defenders, who have become key players recently, will definitely not appear on the field: Venezuelan Wilker Ángel (called up to the national team) and Portuguese Tobias Figueiredo (due to an accumulation of yellow cards). This fact makes the already vulnerable defense of the "Tigers" even more vulnerable.
Prediction for the match: Fluminense to score – yes.
