Arguably the pick of the upcoming round of fixtures in the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A takes place in Braganca Paulista, as Bragantino play host to Santos.

The home sit currently sit in second spot and remain without a defeat in league action so far this season, while their opponents have been slightly inconsistent in the Brazilian top flight recently, resulting in a drop to ninth place, although they remain within touching distance of the top six.

Match preview

Bragantino come into Sunday's game in a heated battle for top spot, having not lost any of their opening 11 league games of the season.

In that time, they have collected 23 points, having won six games, with their most important victory coming against current league leaders Palmeiras, as a Ytalo hat-trick saw them to a 3-1 win.

However, consecutive draws have seen Mauricio Barbieri's side slip to second spot, as they were firstly held by Cuiaba.

Bruno Praxedes put them ahead in the first half and Bragantino looked set to see out their seventh league win of the season, but a Jenison equaliser in the final 15 minutes forced them to share the points.

The Massa Bruta then faced a difficult test away against fifth-placed Atletico Paranaense, and they took the lead through Alerrandro before goals from Nikao and David Terans turned the game on its head, with an 80th-minute Ytalo goal salvaging a point for the visitors.

Barbieri's men did make a return to winning ways last time out in the Copa Sudamericana, beating Independiente del Valle in the away leg of their round-of-16 tie thanks to goals from Fabricio Bruno and Eric Ramires.

They will hope to build on that with what would be an important win in the upcoming league clash, as they look to regain top spot from Palmeiras, who sit just two points ahead.

To do that, they will have to get past a Santos side who will also be aiming to climb the table after a fairly mixed start to the campaign.

The Peixe endured a difficult start to the domestic season, collecting just four points from their opening four games.

Fernando Diniz's men then bounced back in impressive style, defeating Sao Paulo and Atletico Mineiro as they picked up eight points from the following four games to quickly push up the table.

That positive run would be broken by a 2-0 defeat to America Mineiro, but they again bounced back with an impressive 2-1 win over fifth-placed Atletico Paranaense thanks to Marcos Guilherme's opener and a Ze Ivaldo own goal.

In their last league outing, the eight-time Brasileiro champions suffered a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Palmeiras, with Carlos Sanchez pulling the game back to 2-1 before Willian restored the league leaders' two-goal lead and Marinho would hit a consolation goal deep into injury time.

However, they also come into this game on the back of a continental victory, as Kaio Jorge fired them to a 1-0 win in the first leg of their Copa Sudamericana round-of-16 clash with Independiente del Valle.

They will hope to take confidence from that strong start to the knockout stage and build consistency in the Brazilian top flight in order to climb the table, with the chance to move as high as sixth spot depending on other results.

Team News

Bragantino come into the game without midfielder Jadsom, who will serve a one-game league suspension.

He is not the only absentee, with Gabriel Novaes, Bruno Tubarao and Luan Candido all continuing spells out action through injury.

They are also without attacker Claudinho, who is away on international duty with the Brazil Olympic squad.

Ytalo will hope for a spot in the starting XI after he came off the bench to hit his fifth league goal of the season in the recent draw with Atletico Paranaense, with the striker having also registered three assists.

Santos have several selection concerns of their own, with Sandy Santos and Jobson both expected to remain out through injury.

Key midfielder Jean Mota will also miss out, as he will serve a suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards.

Winger Marinho will play an important role in the forward line, having hit four goals in 10 league games so far this season.

Bragantino possible starting lineup:
Cleiton; Aderlan, Bruno, Ortiz, Weverson; Ramires, Evangelista; Artur, Praxedes, Helinho; Ytalo

Santos possible starting lineup:
Paulo; Para, Kaiky, Felipe, Moraes; Alison, Camacho; Marinho, Pirani, Braga; Guilherme

We say: Bragantino 2-1 Santos

In a game between two strong sides, this clash could go either way and is certainly one to be watched, with Bragantino having the narrow edge in our eyes.

Barbieri's men come into the game with plenty of confidence, having not lost a game in league action yet this season, while their opponents are yet to find consistency and could fall just short.

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