Santos v Botafogo

Santos vs Botafogo Preview

It looks like being a tough afternoon at the office for Sunday's hosts, Santos, as they prepare for this forthcoming visit from the Serie A league leaders, Botafogo, to their Estádio Urbano Caldeira especially as Santos have experienced something of a major slump in recent times in the domestic top flight.

Indeed, after producing a fairly encouraging start to this new Brazilian Serie A campaign which saw the hosts lose just two of their opening seven games of the term including picking up three wins in the process, Santos have since slumped in no uncertain fashion as they have registered just one win from their subsequent nine league matches.

This rare win came in the form of a 4-3 home win against fellow strugglers, Goias, but five defeats within this period have seen Santos descend down the Serie A table where they occupy a disappointing 14th place in the top flight standings and just four points above the relegation zone.

The bigger picture shows Santos have managed to capture just three wins in their last 11 home matches while also being handed four defeats, so this may not help them when Botafogo come to town on Sunday.

Botafogo sit 12 points clear at the top of the Brazilian Serie A table ahead of second placed Flamengo prior to this Sunday's trip to face a struggling Santos outfit and having won 13 of their 15 league matches played to date, the visitors look a very tough proposition for Santos this Sunday.

In contrast to Santos' recent struggles, Botafogo bring an impressive six-match winning streak into this upcoming clash having accounted for the likes of Fortaleza, Cuiaba, Palmeiras, Vasco da Gama, Gremio and Bragantino respectively, so all the momentum appears to be on the side of the visitors in this encounter.

Even more impressive is the fact that Botafogo have kept clean sheets in each of these previous six wins and indeed, the visitors have managed no fewer than 10 shut-outs in their total of 15 matches played to date in this season's Serie A campaign, placing them as clear favourites to clinch the domestic top flight title this term.

In addition, Botafogo have suffered just three defeats out of their previous 15 outings on the road in Serie A thus making them favourites to take the spoils at the Estádio Urbano Caldeira on Sunday afternoon.

Santos v Botafogo Verdict

With Santos seemingly stuck in a rut and having managed to record just one win from their previous nine matches overall, the warning signs are there for all to see amongst the Santos camp especially as the hosts have managed to keep just three clean sheets in their last 13 home games.

Botafogo will therefore be keen to exploit any weakness in the Santos defence this Sunday.

Therefore, our main bet will be Botafogo win @ 2.25

Other side bets worth considering:

Botafogo win & Under 2.5 goals @ 4.00

Correct score: Botafogo 1-0 @ 6.00