Criciuma SC v Bahia

Criciuma vs Bahia Preview

Criciuma slipped to a third league defeat on the trot in the Brazilian top flight following another heavy loss, this time a 3-1 defeat away from home at high-flying Athletico PR, and the hosts now face another side who are enjoying a solid start to this new Serie A season in the shape of visitors Bahia who collected a 1-0 home win against Fortaleza which has maintained their position of second place in the Serie A table.

Previous defeats for Criciuma against the likes of Palmeiras 2-1 and Cuiaba 5-2 were both incurred on home soil at their Estádio Heriberto Hülse which does not bode well for this upcoming fixture against Bahia despite holding supposed home advantage.

All in all, it's been a disappointing start to this new Serie A season for Criciuma who have returned to the domestic top flight after a 10-year hiatus as the hosts have managed to capture just the single win to date within their opening six games along with being dealt three defeats as well.

This slow start has contributed to Criciuma's lowly position of 17th place in the table and indeed they occupy a place in the relegation zone ahead of this weekend's Serie A action and having lost two of their three home games to date so far, Criciuma may have their work cut out here.

Bahia have had no such problems in recent weeks as the visitors have propelled themselves up into second spot in the Serie A table and level on points with the league leaders, Flamengo, and confidence will be high as Bahia bring a solid looking seven-game unbeaten sequence into this upcoming clash.

Despite being handed an opening day 2-1 defeat away from home at Internacional, Bahia haven't looked back since as Rogerio Ceni's side have collected five wins within their subsequent seven games thereafter, which includes victories against Fluminense, Gremio, Botafogo, Bragantino and Fortaleza respectively.

This is certainly a vast improvement upon last season's 16th place finish in the Serie A at the end of last term as Bahia avoided relegation by just a slender one-point margin, and now the visitors will be looking to make the most of a struggling Criciuma in this upcoming tussle in order to keep their dream of Libertadores football alive.

Results away from home though have been pretty poor where Bahia have been concerned as the visitors have managed to capture just four wins from their last 21 outings on the road but they do bring a three-game unbeaten run on their travels into this fixture.

Criciuma v Bahia Verdict

Bahia have enjoyed the better of the last five meetings against Criciuma by winning four of these games so the visitors look the more likely in this clash too.

Therefore, our main bet will be Bahia win @ 2.45

Other side bets worth considering:

Bahia win & Under 2.5 goals @ 5.00

Correct Score: Bahia 1-0 @ 8.00