On Wednesday, 12 June, as part of the 8th round of the Brazilian Serie A, Juventude will host Vitoria. The visitors are languishing at the very bottom of the table with a meagre two points, while the hosts are battling for a spot in the Copa Sudamericana.
The match will take place in Caxias do Sul at the Alfredo Jaconi Stadium.
Juventude have found decent form at the start of the season, remaining unbeaten in their last three matches (two draws and one win). The sole victory came in the last round against the bottom-placed Atletico Goianiense (1-0) thanks to a goal from Lucas Barbosa, preceded by draws with Fluminense (1-1) and Atletico Paranaense (1-1). Currently, the hosts sit in 12th place on the table, and a triumph this evening could propel them into the top ten or even the top six, which grants entry to the Copa Libertadores.
Notably, the white and green side have been impressive at home, avoiding defeat in their last six home matches across all competitions. However, the coaching staff cannot be pleased with the attack: Juventude have managed to score more than one goal in just one of their last ten games. Moreover, they have conceded eight goals in the first six rounds— the worst defensive record among the top thirteen teams in Serie A at the moment. For the upcoming game, Juventude will be missing Clayton (rotation) and Renan (reserve goalkeeper), both due to injuries.
Vitoria, sitting at the table's bottom, have only managed to secure 2 points. They are three points adrift of the safe 16th position, having not won a single match in the league and failing to register a victory since late March in all competitions. In the last round, the visitors drew with Cuiabá (0-0) after four consecutive defeats— against Atletico GO (0-2), Vasco da Gama (1-2), Sao Paulo (1-3), and Cruzeiro (1-3). Worse still, the red-blacks were knocked out in the 1/16 finals of the Copa do Brasil against Botafogo (1-3 on aggregate).
Despite keeping a clean sheet in their most recent match, Vitoria's defence remains suspect: they have conceded 13 goals in the first seven matches— the highest in Serie A. It's no surprise that they have failed to win in the last five away fixtures across all competitions and have scored more than one goal in any of their last seven away games.
Last year, these teams faced each other in the lower division, with Juventude coming out on top over two matches (1-0 and 0-0). In the last seven away head-to-head encounters, Vitoria have only won once.
This season, Vitoria have yet to win in all competitions, deservedly finding themselves at the bottom of the table. Juventude, on the other hand, are fighting for continental qualification spots and are unbeaten in their last three matches. It seems the hosts are gathering momentum, so I back a home team victory.
Vitoria hold the dubious honour of conceding the most goals in this Serie A campaign (13 in seven rounds), so betting on Juventude’s individual total over 1 goal is a safe option.
Juventude are in good form and will be playing in front of their home crowd, making a bet on the hosts winning the corner count worthwhile.
The visitors will need to defend more, and Vitoria averages 2.4 yellow cards per game. Therefore, betting on their individual total over 2 yellow cards seems reasonable.
I predict a scoreline of 2-0 in favour of Juventude.
# | Team | P | W | D | L | GD | G | PTS | |
1 | Botafogo | 25 | 15 | 5 | 5 | 19 | 43:24 | 50 | |
2 | Fortaleza | 24 | 14 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 30:22 | 48 | |
3 | Palmeiras | 25 | 14 | 5 | 6 | 19 | 38:19 | 47 | |
4 | Flamengo | 24 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 39:28 | 44 | |
5 | Cruzeiro | 25 | 12 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 34:26 | 41 | |
6 | Sao Paulo | 25 | 12 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 33:26 | 41 | |
7 | Bahia | 25 | 11 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 34:27 | 39 | |
8 | Vasco da Gama | 24 | 10 | 4 | 10 | -5 | 29:34 | 34 | |
9 | Atletico Mineiro | 23 | 8 | 9 | 6 | -1 | 32:33 | 33 | |
10 | Internacional | 22 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 22:19 | 32 | |
11 | RB Bragantino | 24 | 8 | 6 | 10 | -1 | 29:30 | 30 | |
12 | Athletico Paranaense | 23 | 8 | 5 | 10 | -2 | 26:28 | 29 | |
13 | Juventude | 25 | 7 | 8 | 10 | -6 | 29:35 | 29 | |
14 | Criciuma | 24 | 7 | 7 | 10 | -3 | 32:35 | 28 | |
15 | Gremio | 23 | 8 | 3 | 12 | -5 | 23:28 | 27 | |
16 | Fluminense | 24 | 7 | 6 | 11 | -6 | 20:26 | 27 | |
17 | Corinthians | 25 | 5 | 10 | 10 | -9 | 22:31 | 25 | |
18 | Vitoria | 25 | 6 | 4 | 15 | -13 | 26:39 | 22 | |
19 | Cuiaba | 24 | 5 | 7 | 12 | -12 | 23:35 | 22 | |
20 | Atletico Goianiense | 25 | 4 | 6 | 15 | -19 | 21:40 | 18 | |
1 | Fortaleza | 13 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 20:6 | 33 | |
2 | Cruzeiro | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 23:8 | 29 | |
3 | Sao Paulo | 13 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 19:9 | 29 | |
4 | Botafogo | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 22:9 | 28 | |
5 | Palmeiras | 13 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 23:9 | 28 | |
6 | Flamengo | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 19:12 | 26 | |
7 | Bahia | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 17:7 | 26 | |
8 | Vasco da Gama | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 20:17 | 24 | |
9 | RB Bragantino | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 16:11 | 22 | |
10 | Juventude | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 18:11 | 22 | |
11 | Corinthians | 12 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 17:12 | 19 | |
12 | Criciuma | 13 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 17:18 | 18 | |
13 | Atletico Mineiro | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 16:17 | 17 | |
14 | Fluminense | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 13:11 | 17 | |
15 | Internacional | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 12:10 | 16 | |
16 | Gremio | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 12:14 | 16 | |
17 | Athletico Paranaense | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 14:14 | 14 | |
18 | Vitoria | 13 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 15:19 | 14 | |
19 | Cuiaba | 13 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 11:16 | 10 | |
20 | Atletico Goianiense | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 11:20 | 9 | |
1 | Botafogo | 13 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 21:15 | 22 | |
2 | Palmeiras | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 15:10 | 19 | |
3 | Flamengo | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 20:16 | 18 | |
4 | Atletico Mineiro | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 16:16 | 16 | |
5 | Internacional | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 10:9 | 16 | |
6 | Fortaleza | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 10:16 | 15 | |
7 | Athletico Paranaense | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 12:14 | 15 | |
8 | Bahia | 13 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 17:20 | 13 | |
9 | Cruzeiro | 13 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 11:18 | 12 | |
10 | Sao Paulo | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 14:17 | 12 | |
11 | Cuiaba | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 12:19 | 12 | |
12 | Gremio | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 11:14 | 11 | |
13 | Vasco da Gama | 12 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 9:17 | 10 | |
14 | Criciuma | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 15:17 | 10 | |
15 | Fluminense | 12 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 7:15 | 10 | |
16 | Atletico Goianiense | 13 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 10:20 | 9 | |
17 | RB Bragantino | 13 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 13:19 | 8 | |
18 | Vitoria | 12 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 11:20 | 8 | |
19 | Juventude | 13 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 11:24 | 7 | |
20 | Corinthians | 13 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 5:19 | 6 |
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