League leaders Flamengo will entertain the challenge of Fortaleza at the Maracana Stadium on Thursday in round 16 of the 2024 Brasileiro season.
The hosts head into this one off the back of a share of the spoils last time out, while their visitors made it three wins from four matches with a narrow triumph.
Match preview
Flamengo were denied a third consecutive victory following a 1-1 stalemate against an out-of-sorts Cuiaba outfit in Sunday's encounter.
Tite's men fell behind to Derik Lacerda's seventh-minute opener before restoring parity through in-form striker Pedro just past the hour mark.
While the Rubro-Negro remain top of the Brasileiro table, they have now seen their lead over second-placed Botafogo cut to just one point.
Awaiting them next is the task of facing off against an opposing side who were beaten in both of last season's editions of this fixture by a combined score of 4-0.
Having seen their seven-game winning run on home turf come to an end last time out, Thursday's hosts now set out to get themselves back to winning ways in front of their fans.
Fortaleza just about saw off the threat of Fluminense courtesy of a hard-fought 1-0 triumph in Sunday's meeting at the Castelao Stadium.
Despite dominating for the majority of the contest, Juan Vojvoda's men had to wait until the 57th minute to find the all-important winner through Juan Lucero.
With 23 points picked up from 14 matches this term, Clube da Garotada sit eighth in the standings, albeit just two points adrift of the final Copa Libertadores spot.
Boasting just one win from their last 10 matches on enemy territory, Thursday's visitors have endured a torrid time on their travels of late and will be keen to turn things around.
Team News
Everton remains unavailable for Flamengo through injury, while fellow Brazilian Gabriel Barbosa also continues his spell out on the sidelines.
Igor Jesus is set to miss an eighth straight match for the hosts but is making progress towards returning to action from a muscle problem.
Pedro's equaliser against Cuiaba last time out saw him score for a fourth time in five matches, making him one to keep an eye on here.
Midfielder Hercules is eligible to feature for Fortaleza once again having served a one-game suspension the victory over Fluminense.
This should see Matheus Rossetto drop to the visitors' bench off the back of a rare starting appearance for the 28-year-old last time out.
Flamengo possible starting lineup:
Rossi; Wesley, Bruno, Luiz, Lucas; Allan, Pulgar, Gerson; Araujo, Pedro, Lorran
Fortaleza possible starting lineup:
Ricardo; Pacheco, Titi, Britez, Tinga; Pochettino, Hercules, Sasha, Augusto; Lucero, Lopes
We say: Flamengo 2-1 Fortaleza
Despite a mini bump in the road last time out, Flamengo are in flying form heading into this one and are huge favourites to come out on top. While we expect Fortaleza to put up a good fight, we are tipping the hosts to secure maximum points in the end.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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