An overview of Corinthians hunters Gremio and Flamengo & Brazil’s football news
OVERVIEW OF THE LAST ROUND
This weekend we had the 14th round of Brazilian Championship! And a miracle happened when Corinthians drew they’re match at home, now Gremio are 8 points behind, hunting the leaders. Of the 10 matches, I hit 5 in my predictions…
Corinthians 2-2 Atletico PR – wrong prediction L
Palmeiras 4-2 Vitoria – correct prediction J
Vasco 0-0 Santos – correct prediction J
Cruzeiro 1-1 Flamengo – wrong prediction L
Grêmio 3-1 Ponte Preta – correct prediction J
Atletico GO 1-2 Atletico MG – correct prediction J
Chapecoense 2-0 São Paulo – wrong prediction L
Coritiba 1-2 Fluminense – wrong prediction L
Bahia 1-1 Avai – correct prediction J
Botafogo 2-1 Sport – wrong prediction L
After 14 rounds we can see who can try to wrestle the title away from Corinthians but there aren’t many teams who can. In my point of view, only Gremio and Flamengo can try to stop Corinthians who have an incredible win percentage of 86% in the campaign. But why can Gremio and Flamengo can stop Corinthians?
Gremio
They play the best football in Brazil with a possession based 4-2-3-1 formation. The players know each other and are very organised. Gremio have Luan, one the best player in Brazil at the moment with 14 goals and 11 assists this year. Young midfielder, Arthur controls play and is the player the initiates attacks. Winger, Pedro Rocha has 11 assists this year and was the hero of Gremio’s Brazilian Cup victory last year alongside their experienced centre forward Lucas Barrios. The weakness of Gremio is that the team is in the three main championships of Brazil, the SA: Libertadores, Brazilian Cup and Brazilian Championship, and will have to rotate their squad in to keep fresh which could see their stronger players miss out on some games.
Flamengo
With good players in all positions Flamengo have decisive and experienced players going forward such as the likes of Everton Ribeiro, Diego and Guerrero. Flamengo’s weaknesses are their coach along with their defence. Ze Ricardo is not an experienced coach and may not be able to spearhead their hunt for silverware so early, especially with such a slow defence at his disposal.
Transfers
The biggest news regarding transfers sees goalkeeper Diego Alves move from Valencia to Flamengo. The position was the Flamengo’s biggest problem, as they had good players in all outfield positions, but were lacking a good option in between the posts. Diego is likely to make his debut in 10 days against Corinthians.
Another transfer that was completed within the last few days was the signing of centre forward Deiverson who moved from Alaves to Palmeiras. He will challenge the Colombian Borja for the starting spot arriving as the biggest transfer to a Brazilian team this year.
Incredible, but during this transfer window we don’t seem to have a lot of rumours about players leaving Brazil. However, the main rumour of that happening is about Luan from Gremio. We’ve heard rumours about the interest from Liverpool, but Gremio’s directors have said that they haven’t received any proposals from Liverpool. A proposal that they did receive though came from Sampdoria, for around 15 millions euros but Gremio are looking to sell him for at least 25 million euros.
PREVIEW OF THE NEXT ROUND
This mid-week we will have the 15th round of the Brazilian Championship, KEEP AN EYE ON: Flamengo x Palmeiras. The richest teams in Brazil, with a lot a good players, but Flamengo have an inexperienced coach in Zé Ricardo and Palmeiras see Cuca return but still haven’t find a way to play. See below my predictions of all matches:
Santos vs Chapecoense – Santos wins
Vitoria vs Gremio – Gremio wins
Ponte Preta vs Coritiba – Ponte Preta wins
Avai vs Corinthians – Corinthians wins
Flamengo vs Palmeiras – Flamengo wins
São Paulo vs Vasco – São Paulo wins
Atletico MG vs Bahia – Atletico MG wins
Fluminense vs Cruzeiro – draw
Sport vs Atletico GO – Sport wins
Atletico PR vs Botafogo – Botafogo wins
Next Tuesday we will talk again about Brazilian football week and our predictions for the Brazilian Championship weekend round! Liked? Then follow me on Twitter @mwgremio