Corinthians vs Cruzeiro Prediction & Betting Tips - Brasileirão Serie A

Prediction published on 14/04/2023, 15:50  by Devesh Jaganath in Football Predictions

The Brazilian Serie A returns to action this weekend, and all eyes will be on the new boy's Cruzeiro as they prepare to take on Corinthians at the Neo Quimica Arena in their first match in the big league. The visitors earned promotion by winning the Serie B title convincingly last year, eight points clear of their closest challengers and fellow promotion side, Gremio, who finished in second place. Cruzeiro come into this one having lost their last match 1-0 in their third round first leg match against Nautico on Friday. During pre-season, the visitors participated in the Campeonato Mineiro and did relatively well, topping Group C and reaching the semi-final stages before being knocked out by America-MG 4-1 on aggregate. Across last season, Cruzeiro’s away record was average at best, with 12 wins, six draws, and eight losses in 26 matches on the road. Interestingly, while these sides have not met since 2019, Cruzeiro does have the better h2h record, unbeaten in their last five matches against this opponent, and they will be hoping they pick up that record where they left off with another win in this one. 

Meanwhile, Corinthians will come into this campaign hoping that they can improve on the fourth-place finish that they managed last season. The hosts ended the 2022 campaign with 65 points after their 38 matches, 16 points behind the eventual champions Palmeiras and seven clear of the Athletic Mineiro, who were the first side outside the top six. Corinthians also suffered a cup defeat in their last match, a 2-0 loss to Remo, which followed a 3-0 away win to Liverpool in the CONMEBOL Libertadores a week earlier. Before that, the hosts were involved in the Paulista A1 and qualified for the knockout stages on top of their group but were knocked out in the quarter-final stages after a penalty shootout against Ituano. Corinthians managed a solid record of 17 wins, four draws, and just four losses in 25 matches at home last season and will fancy themselves to get off to a winning start this time around against a newly promoted opposition.