South American Tips: Corinthians to pick up another home win

8Jun 2013

Betfair

There's plenty of intriguing clashes in South America this weekend as the Brazilian and Argentinian top tiers are both in action. Here are Paul Robinson's selections from Betfair's Sportsbook:

Cruzeiro v Internacional

Back Cruzeiro @ 1.95 (19/20)
Back 'No' in Both Teams to Score @ 1.85 (17/20)

Cruzeiro will have the chance to go top on Saturday night if they beat Internacional and they look a fair price to do so.

After finishing ninth in Serie A last term, Celso Roth was dismissed as manager and replaced by Marcelo de Oliveira Santos. After reaching the final of the Mineiro One in May, Cruzeiro have kicked on again and collected seven points from their opening four fixtures in the Campeonato to sit in second place, just a point behind leaders Coritiba.

The Celestials have won both their homes games so far - a 5-0 demolition of new boys Goias and then an impressive 1-0 victory over Corinthians on Wednesday night. In fact they've now won 11 straight at Mineirão in all competitions - five of which featured clean sheets.

Internacional also have a new man in charge since last season - the former national coach and legendary player, Carlos Dunga. He led his team to glory in the Gaucho One but they've won just one of their opening four games in Serie A. They lost last week at home to Bahia and followed that up with a disappointing 1-1 draw at the struggling Portuguesa - even though their opponents played with 10 men for the final 25 minutes.

Inter have won only one of their last five on the road and they fired three blanks in that period. For that reason, not only do I like a home win at 1.95 (19/20), the 1.85 (17/20) about 'no' in the both teams to score market seems like decent value.

Corinthians v Portuguesa SP

Back Corinthians @ 1.6 (6/10)
Back Corinthians to win 2-0 @ 6.5 (11/2)

We stay in Brazil for the match between Corinthians and Portuguesa SP that kicks off just after the above game finishes. Corinthians are a short price to win but they should do so, with some ease.

Adenor Leonardo Bacchi, or Tite as he's known, has seen his side suffer a couple of setbacks of late. While they won the Paulista A1 last month they were knocked out of the Copa Libertadores in disappointing fashion against Boca Juniors and have started the Campeonato with just one win from four matches.

In all fairness, Corinthians have only lost once and they are incredibly strong at home. The People's Club haven't lost in Tatuapé since January - a spell of 16 games, 11 of which were victories. They kept eight clean sheets during that period and haven't lost a competitive match to Portuguesa since 2006.

Their opponents won the Paulista A2 after defeating Rio Claro on away goals in the final, but they've continued last year's struggles into Serie A. Portuguesa are down in 17th place with just two points, although they have a game in hand over most of their rivals.

Edson Pimenta's men lost to Vasco da Gama before drawing with Nautico and Internacional. They generally struggle away from home and won just three Serie A matches on their travels last term. They aren't exactly high scorers either so as Corinthians are defensively resolute and capable of soaking up plenty of pressure, I like a 2-0 correct score at 6.5 (11/2) to compliment the home win in the match odds market.

Belgrano v San Martin de San Juan - Betfair Live Video at 20:00 GMT

Back the draw @ 3.1 (21/10)
Back a 1-1 correct score @ 6.0 (5/1)

Our final selection comes from Argentina as Belgrano take on San Martin de San Juan in the Torneo Final. The two teams finished miles apart in the Torneo Inicial but it's much closer in this stage and I think we could see the spoils shared.

Belgrano haven't been able to build on their third place finish in the Torneo Inicial and with just three games to go they are in ninth place with 21 points. Ricardo Zielinski's side have only lost three times, but they've drawn nine of their 16 - a total of 56%. Five of their last seven have seen the scores level at the final whistle and the last two meetings between this pair have ended 1-1.

San Martin de San Juan have bounced back tremendously from their Torneo Inicial showing as they've already bettered their points tally by three points with nine left to play for. Ruben Darío Forestello's men have won three of their last five but the victory at Tigre on their last road trip was their first outside of San Juan since October 2012.

Neither of these two have much to play for and that usually points to a draw in my experience - especially in this league. While Belgrano are prone to a 0-0, San Martin de San Juan are usually good for goals so I think a 1-1 correct score at 6.0 (5/1) could have some mileage.

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