Preview: Fortaleza vs. Atletico Mineiro
Atletico Mineiro will be hoping to keep the pressure on at the top of the Brasileiro on Saturday when they make the trip to face Fortaleza.
While the visitors currently sit in fourth place, the hosts can overtake their opponents with three points, providing plenty for each team to play for.
Fortaleza have had a strong start to the new campaign, losing only two of their 11 games up to this point, which has allowed them to progress into eighth place.
After three matches in a row without a win Juan Pablo Vojvoda’s men got their season back on track during their most recent outing by securing a win against Cruzeira.
The team left things late to achieve that though with Juan Martin Lucero scoring the only goal of the game which took place in the 80th minute.
However, the ability to push until the very end is something that Fortaleza will be aiming to retain in this game as they compete against one of the strongest teams in the division.
Vojvoda’s team have not been quite as strong in away games throughout this season, but with a victory potentially allowing them to climb as high as third this weekend there is plenty of incentive to push themselves.
The visitors are currently sat in fourth and have also had a great start to the season, losing just twice at this stage as they now sit just five points behind the top of the table.
Atletico Mineiro will be hoping to kick on now and keep the pressure on those above them to ensure that they remain in contention as close as possible.
The team does head into this game on the back of a four-match unbeaten streak, but they have also failed to win in their previous two matches.
Both of those have finished in 1-1 draws, and a big reason for those struggles has been a lack of goals as Atletico Mineiro have only scored one in each of their past four matches.
That run has added plenty of pressure on the defense as the need for clean sheets has been high, and that is why the pressure will rise on the attacking players this weekend.
Fortaleza Brasileiro form:
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Fortaleza form (all competitions):
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Atletico Mineiro Brasileiro form:
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Atletico Mineiro form (all competitions):
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We say: Fortaleza 2-1 Atletico Mineiro
This will likely be a cagey match between two teams who have made a strong start to the season, but Fortaleza will head in as the favourites due to their performances overall