Palmeiras will aim to extend their unbeaten start to the league season and move to the top of the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A table on Thursday, when they travel to take on Bahia.

After 10 rounds of fixtures in the Brazilian top flight, the visitors sit second with just a two-point gap to leaders Botafogo, while their hosts find themselves 15th in the midst of a winless run.

Match preview

After winning promotion back to the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A last season, Bahia have experienced a tough start to the new league campaign, having put nine points on the board from 10 outings thus far.

The two victories they have managed came consecutively early in the term, after back-to-back defeats to kick off the campaign, as the Tricolor beat Vasco da Gama and Coritiba 1-0 and 3-1 respectively to score their first six points, but they have been unable to add another notch to their wins column in six attempts since.

In the aftermath of those triumphs, Renato Paiva's side managed just a single point from a four-match span, as they suffered defeats to Santos, Flamengo and Internacional, before at least playing out back-to-back draws heading into a Thursday's contest.

The first of those, after a penalty shootout win over Santos in the Copa do Brasil round of 16, came in a goalless stalemate away at Fortaleza, before they most recently hosted Cruzeiro and went ahead through Kayky in the 18th minute, only for the visitors to turn the game on its head before half time and go 2-1 up through Bruno Rodrigues and Wesley.

The Tricolor did come away from that contest with a point eventually, as Arthur Sales levelled the scores soon after the hour mark, and Paiva's men will now be desperate to build on the recent pair of draws and make a crucial return to winning ways on Thursday, albeit in an unenviable test.

They welcome a Palmeiras side who remain unbeaten after 10 league outings in their defence of the Brazilian top-flight title, after their 11th national glory last time around.

In their 10 games in the Brasileiro, Abel Ferreira's side have netted a league-high tally of 22 goals, while only leaders Botafogo have conceded fewer than the eight that the Verdao have shipped thus far.

Following three consecutive wins across late April and mid-May, Palmeiras did have to settle for draws with Bragantino, Santos and Atletico Mineiro, while also losing 1-0 to Fortaleza in the second leg of their Copa do Brasil round-of-16 tie, albeit advancing anyway with an aggregate victory, and they have since bounced back to winning ways and head into Thursday looking to leapfrog Botafogo on the back of consecutive three-point hauls.

Ferreira's men firstly hosted Coritiba and comfortably won 3-1 thanks to Rony's brace and an Artur goal, before beating Barcelona SC 4-2 in the Copa Libertadores and most recently triumphing 2-0 away at Sao Paulo as Gabriel Menino and Endrick got on the scoresheet.

While the league leaders also came out on top in their last outing, remaining at the summit of the division as a result, Palmeiras do sit just two points off the top of the table at this early stage of the campaign, and they will hope to take their unbeaten run to 11 games with a seventh league win of the campaign to move into first place on Thursday.

Team News

Renato Paiva could opt to stick with an unchanged Bahia starting XI for Thursday's game following their draw with Cruzeiro, although Arthur Sales does have a claim to come into the attack from the outset after earning them a point with a goal off the bench in that game.

He could replace Everaldo up front in a 3-4-3 setup, while Manchester City loanee Kayky will keep his place on the left wing after netting his first goal of the season in the Cruzeiro game.

Thaciano will again play a key role in the engine room, while Kanu, David Duarte and Vitor Hugo could again line up in a back three.

Palmeiras prospect Endrick, who will join Real Madrid next summer at the age of 18 years old, will hope to break into the Palmeiras starting XI on Thursday after he netted his third league goal of the season on Thursday, despite only one of his eight Brasileiro appearances this term being a start.

He will hope to displace Rony, who has managed two goals so far in the top flight, while winger Artur has been a key man this term, having already notched up four league goals and three in five Copa Libertadores group game.

Artur, Raphael Veiga and Dudu will form a supporting trio behind whichever lone stroker is preferred, while Gabriel Menino and Ze Rafael should continue their partnership at the base of the midfield.

Bahia possible starting lineup:
Marcos; Kanu, Duarte, Hugo; Cicinho, Thaciano, Rezende, Ryan; Cauly, Sales, Kayky

Palmeiras possible starting lineup:
Weverton; Mayke, Luan, Naves, Piquerez; Rafael, Menino; Artur, Veiga, Dudu; Endrick

We say: Bahia 0-2 Palmeiras

The two sides come into Thursday's game in contrasting runs of form, and with far more quality in their squad than the hosts, we can only envisage a relatively routine Palmeiras triumph.


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