Santos-SP – Athletico-PR

The home side will not be able to break Atletico’s unbeaten streak

The second leg of the 28th round of the Brazilian Serie A will be played at the Vila Belmiro Stadium. The eight-time national champion and three-time winner of the Libertadores Cup will host Atletico Paranaense. Santos have no championship ambitions in the current championship, but due to the factor of their field, bookmakers offer them as favourites. The opponents have different ambitions: Atletico (current 6th place) has them in the Cup of Libertadores, while Santos (12th place) varies between the South American Cup and the task to avoid relegation to the second division. The hosts approach the upcoming encounter with an acting head coach. A few days before the match it was reported that Santos are in active talks with Marcelo Bielsa, who terminated his contract with English side Leeds in February. The legendary club are now experiencing one of their worst stretches of the season. Santos' last win was more than a month ago, while all three of their September fixtures have seen them suffer defeats. And, based on the names of their opponents, only a loss to leading Palmeiras would have exonerated the legendary club, but Santos also lost to them on the power play. Atletico Paranaense has roughly the same transfer value as Santos as their main squad, which means they are unlikely to be inferior in terms of personnel potential. And the results of the 14th team of the last championship this season show decent results. Scolari's side approach the trip to Sao Paulo State with a seven-match unbeaten streak, during which they have beaten the current first and third teams in Serie A - Palmeiras and Fluminense respectively. These results are testament not only to the resilience of the visitors in the upcoming game, but also to their ability to tune in to big-name opponents. In the last two years, Santos and Atletico Paranaense have played six games against each other. None of the fights ended in a win by more than one goal. Atletico won three times, Santos won twice and the June encounter this year was a draw. The upcoming game is also likely to be a tie and is unlikely to end in a win for the home side.