Atletico Mineiro will be aiming for their fifth consecutive victory when they host Juventude in the Campeonato Brasileiro on Saturday, with the
league leaders inching closer to the title.
Meanwhile, the visitors are unbeaten in five and will be looking to continue their resurgence as they bid to move away from the relegation zone.
Match preview
Atletico Mineiro are eight points clear at the top with six games to play, and they will be aiming to tighten their grip on the title with another victory on Saturday.
The league leaders are in scintillating form following four consecutive victories, which included a 1-0 win last time out.
After three successive home encounters, Atletico Mineiro travelled away to Athletico Paranaense, with Matias Zaracho's goal on the stroke of half time proving enough to clinch all three points.
Following that win on the road, Cuca's side will return to home surroundings on Sunday, where they have been in imperious form - winning their last eight home games in all competitions.
Saturday's hosts have scored more home goals than any other side in the league, and they have also conceded the fewest goals on home turf, highlighting the size of the task that faces Juventude at the weekend.
Juventude have won their last three games, and have come into form at the right time, with Saturday's visitors aiming to avoid the drop.
Despite their recent run of positive results, they head into the weekend in 15th place and are only three points above the relegation zone.
After winning 2-0 away to Chapecoense last weekend, Juventude continued their winning run with a narrow victory over Fluminense in midweek.
A strike from Vitor Mendes in the 18th minute guided Jair Ventura's side to a 1-0 victory, which boosted their hopes of survival.
Although, Ventura will be nervous ahead of the trip to the league leaders, with Juventude only winning twice away from home in the league this season.
Atletico Mineiro Brasileiro form:
Atletico Mineiro form (all competitions):
Juventude Brasileiro form:
Team News
Atletico Mineiro are still without Ignacio Fernandez, who is absent due to a thigh injury.
Following his return from international duty, Junior Alonso is expected to come into the starting lineup.
Eduardo Vargas, Alan Franco and Jefferson Savarino are also available after returning from international duty, but the trio may have to settle for a place on the bench.
Elton is absent for Juventude, with the midfielder expected to miss the remainder of the season.
After serving a one-match suspension for yellow card accumulation, Michel and Marcos Vinicios are expected to start on Saturday.
With the suspended duo returning, Paulo Henrique and Wescley will make way and will have to be content with a place on the bench.
Atletico Mineiro possible starting lineup:
Everson; Guga, Nathan, Alonso, Arana; Jair, Allan, Zaracho; Hulk, Keno, Costa
Juventude possible starting lineup:
Douglas; Michel, Mendes, Forster, Matheus; Jadson, Dawhan, Guilherme; Wagner, Vinicios, Bueno
We said: Atletico Mineiro 2-1 Juventude
Juventude enter the encounter unbeaten in five, but they face a tough test on Saturday, and we think the league leaders will continue their excellent form with a fifth consecutive victory at the weekend.
Read more.Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Atletico Mineiro win with a probability of 77.87%. A draw had a probability of 15% and a win for Juventude had a probability of 7.09%.
The most likely scoreline for an Atletico Mineiro win was 2-0 with a probability of 14.71%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (12.29%) and 3-0 (11.74%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (7.07%), while for a Juventude win it was 0-1 (2.95%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 14.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 2-0 win for Atletico Mineiro in this match.
