Cruzeiro v Juventude RS

Cruzeiro vs Juventude Preview

After posting an impressive and welcome three league wins on the trot, Criciuma suffered a 2-0 defeat away from home at second placed Palmeiras on the weekend which resulted in Fernando Seabra's side slipping down the Serie A table to seventh place, while Juventude extended their unbeaten run in the domestic top flight to three games after sharing the spoils in a 0-0 draw at home with Sao Paulo.

Cruzeiro had previously registered important wins against Corinthians 3-0, Gremio 2-0 and Bragantino 2-1 to place them amongst the teams jostling for either automatic qualification for a Copa Libertadores spot or at least a qualifier berth but although they now occupy seventh place, spirits and confidence will still remain high as Cruzeiro return to their Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto for this upcoming clash.

Despite overall recent results being something of a mixed bag consisting of five wins, four losses and a draw, Cruzeiro have produced an excellent record on home soil so far in this season's Serie A campaign as the hosts possess a 100% winning record at their Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto.

Seven wins on the trot will give any side plenty of confidence and Cruzeiro are no exception, while the prospect of goals certainly looks promising as five of these seven wins have also resulted in Over 2.5 goals as well.

A 3-0 home win against third from bottom club, Gremio, along with draws at home with Atletico Mineiro and Sao Paulo in 1-1 and 0-0 stalemates respectively will also give Juventude a seemingly decent chance of picking up something from this upcoming trip to the Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto.

However, although the visitors bring a three-game unbeaten run into this upcoming fixture along with picking up five wins to date this season, it should be noted that all five victories have been achieved on home soil at their Estádio Alfredo Jaconi where they still remain unbeaten, but results away from home have been poor by comparison.

Seven games into their campaign on the road and Juventude are still going in search of not only their first win on their travels this season but attempting to halt a miserable stretch of 23 outings on the road without picking up a single victory.

18 defeats within these last 23 away games tells its own story and one that must be resulting in an extremely low morale and levels of confidence as the visitors make their way to face an upbeat Cruzeiro outfit in their own backyard.

Cruzeiro v Juventude Verdict

Interestingly, Juventude have won four out of the last five meetings against Cruzeiro but the upcoming hosts look the more likely to gain the spoils in this encounter and turn the tables on their visitors in this one.

Therefore, our main bet will be Cruzeiro win @ 1.55

Other side bets worth considering:

Cruzeiro win & Over 2.5 goals @ 2.60

Correct Score: Cruzeiro 3-0 @ 11.00