Corinthians will be out to close the gap on Palmeiras at the top of the Brasileiro table when they welcome Goias to the Neo Quimica Arena on Sunday.

Despite rarely suffering defeat in recent weeks, the hosts have struggled to turn draws into three points, whilst the visitors slid closer to the drop zone when they were defeated in midweek.

Match preview

As has been the case throughout most fixtures recently, Corinthians were forced to share the points in a feisty encounter at Athletico Paranaense on Wednesday evening.

After Roger Guedes had provided them with an early lead inside five minutes, Timao played out an excellent first half to deservedly lead at the break.

However, their hosts bounced back and regained much of the control during the second 45, and after both sides had a man sent off midway through the half, David Terans equalised for Paranaense with just eight minutes of normal time remaining.

As a result, Corinthians have now drawn six of their last nine outings across all competitions, four of which have arrived in the Brasileiro.

The failure to turn draws into all three points has seen Sunday's hosts lose top spot to a ruthless Palmeiras side of late, with a three-point gap opening up ahead of matchday 13 this weekend.

Vitor Pereira's side will be expected to put some pressure on the leaders here though, as Corinthians play host to a Goias side that they have beaten six times in their unbeaten last eight meetings.

Meanwhile, newly-promoted Goias will not be expected to end that poor run against their hosts on Sunday, but they will certainly sense a chance of grinding out a point against the giants.

Goias themselves have shared the points on several occasions this campaign - five out of 12 Brasileiro outings so far - and if Jair Ventura's side can keep it tight at the back, confidence throughout the game is sure to grow in what will have to be a hard-fought display all over the pitch.

The visitors head into matchday 13 in 16th spot following Wednesday's defeat at home to Internacional, leaving them just a point above the relegation zone.

Ventura's men had found themselves on a decent five-game unbeaten run across all competitions prior to the loss, and had lost just once in eight Brasileiro encounters, but they could do little to prevent defeat against the better side at the Estadio da Serrinha.

After falling behind early on, Da Silva equalised for Goias just before half time, but they would find themselves behind again shortly after the break, and despite a domination of possession, they could do little to trouble Internacional's goal in search of an equaliser.

Team News

Having only been on the pitch for four minutes on Wednesday, Corinthians' Roni received his marching orders for violent conduct at Paranaense, and as a result, the central midfielder will be unavailable for Sunday's clash.

The 23-year-old is only used sparingly however, meaning Du Quieroz and Victor Cantillo should keep their places at the base of the midfield anyway.

The hosts have a number of injury problems to deal with though, with as many as seven players potentially being unavailable through various issues.

Joao Victor, Fagner, Paulinho, Ruan Oliveira, Maycon and Luan are all ruled out through injury, whilst Junior Moraes is unlikely to feature for a couple of weeks due to illness, leaving Pereira with very few options to rotate his lineup.

As for the visitors, they will be without the services of Reynaldo and Matheus Sales on Sunday, after the duo picked up their third yellow cards of the campaign in midweek, forcing them to miss the trip to Corinthians through a one-match suspension.

Matheus Santos and Luiz Filipe are both out for the season due to serious knee injuries, whilst Hugo is also unavailable for another couple of weeks due to a knee injury of his own.

Auremir could well deputise for Sales, resulting in Elvis being pushed further forward into an advanced role, whilst Sidnei is a contender to fill in in the back three alongside Da Silva and Caetano.

Corinthians possible starting lineup:
Cassio; Ramos, Gil, Gustavo, Piton; Quieroz, Cantillo; Mantuan, R Augusto, Willian; Guedes

Goias possible starting lineup:
Tadeu; Da Silva, Sidnei, Caetano; Dieguinho, C Vinicius, Auremir, Belmonte; Elvis, Raul, Vinicius

We say: Corinthians 2-0 Goias

Despite their struggles to find the back of the net on a regular basis and record all three points of late, Corinthians should cruise to a relatively comfortable victory on Sunday.

They remain a tough side to beat, and certainly possess a superior amount of quality to visiting Goias, so although there may not be a flood of goals, we are expecting a home win here.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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