Fluminense – Santos 07.09.2012

Fluminense is sharing the top of the table with Atletico Mineiro. Both teams have 44 points, even Fluminense have played one game more.

The atmosphere in the squad is very good and the players confidence is surely high, although they played two consecutive draws in the last two rounds. Still, it is important to be mentioned that two of the last three matches have ended with Over 2.5 goals.
For this match Fluminense coach Abel Braga will miss Leandro Euzebio due to suspension, while Marcos Junior, Deco, Anderson, Fred and Thiago Carleto are injured.
Santos on other side isn’t that good in the new season. They are in the second part of the table with 26 points from 21 matches. I think the main reason for that is connect with the fact their key players like Ganso and Neymar spent lot of time with the national team preparing for the Olympic games in London and participating there. That is why Neymar have played only 7 matches from possible 21, while Ganso only 5. However, something else is important for my pick – Santos last 9 games in Campeonato have ended with Over 2.5 goals all. I think that’s reason is enough to expect another high scoring match, even many players will be sidelined for this match (Fucile, Henrique, Edu Dracena, Galhardo, Leo, Miralles and Ganso).

At the end I will mention the tradition. The last three mutual games played at Estadio Olimpico Joao Havelange have ended with Over 2.5 goals. A total of 13 goals were scored on the mentioned 3 games which means an average of more then 4 goals per game. I expect at least three goals once again.