Cruzeiro v Fortaleza CE

Cruzeiro vs Fortaleza Preview

Cruzeiro and Fortaleza both occupy places in the top 12 of the Brazilian Serie A with Cruzeiro sitting in 9th place and visitors, Fortaleza, occupying 11th place but both teams level on 14 points apiece ahead of this upcoming tussle at the Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto on Wednesday evening.

Despite being in contention for a possible Copa Sudamericana spot, Cruzeiro will head into Wednesday's match on the back of a four-match winless run in the domestic top flight which consists of points picked up in draws with Flamengo 1-1 and Bahia 2-2 along with defeats to Cuiaba and Atletico Mineiro, both on home soil and both by 1-0 margins.

Earlier in the season, Cruzeiro had put together a three-match winning streak with victories gained over Gremio, Bragantino and Santos but the hosts have managed to capture just one more win in their subsequent six matches so the goals market looks the better option here with four of Cruzeiro's last six home games resulting in Under 2.5 goals.

Fortaleza haven't fared much better than their hosts in recent weeks as the visitors have managed to collect just one win from their last seven matches overall in Serie A which came in the form of a 2-0 home win against Vasco da Gama but four draws and two defeats within this period have resulted in Fortaleza treading water in the top 12 of the Brazilian top flight table.

Fortaleza had started this new campaign in positive fashion as they held Internacional to a 1-1 draw before posting back-to-back wins in the form of victories over Coritiba 3-0 and Fluminense 4-2 to give them a solid start to the new term.

However, stalemates with Corinthians, Sao Paulo, Gremio and Bahia along with losses incurred against America Mineiro and Botafogo suggest that the goals market is also favourable regarding the visitors as well, especially as six of Fortaleza's last seven games have resulted in Under 2.5 goals.

Cruzeiro v Fortaleza Verdict

Both Cruzeiro and Fortaleza have experienced a lull in terms of form and indeed goals in recent weeks and this is evident when looking at the results of both sides at home and away; four of Cruzeiro's five home games to date have resulted in Under 2.5 goals scored in total, while three of Fortaleza's five away games to date have also resulted in Under 2.5 goals scored.

With both sides struggling for form, the prospects of a low-scoring encounter appear to be fairly high here at the Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto and this is certainly reflected in previous meetings as three of the previous four clashes have also resulted in low-scoring affairs.

Therefore, our main bet will be Under 2.5 goals @ 1.70

Other side bets worth considering:

Fortaleza win @ 3.60

Correct score: Fortaleza 1-0 @ 9.50