In the early hours of Thursday morning, Sao Paulo state rivals Santos and Corinthians will do battle at Vila Belmiro in the Brazilian Serie A.
The two powerhouses of Brazilian football find themselves in the bottom half of the table, with Santos (13th) leading Corinthians (16th) by four points.
Given that Corinthians sit one place and one point above the relegation zone, both sides will be eager to pick up a positive result at Vila Belmiro.
It’s fair to say that Santos have experienced an indifferent start to the Serie A campaign, recording three wins, four draws and three losses in their first 10 matches.
Only bottom club Coritiba have scored fewer goals than Santos this season, while only table-topping Botafogo have conceded fewer goals.
Santos head into this clash on the back of a goalless stalemate with Coritiba, meaning they have drawn three of their previous four league matches.
That said, Santos have lost just one of their last six Serie A encounters, picking up two wins and three draws to remain clear of the relegation zone.
Corinthians, meanwhile, have managed to win just two of their 10 league matches this term, recording three draws and five losses in the process.
Following a 1-1 draw with Cuiaba last time out, Corinthians have claimed a solitary victory in their previous nine Serie A games.
To make matters worse for Corinthians, they have lost each of their five away league outings this season, failing to score a single goal in the previous three.
Across all competitions, Corinthians have won only two of their last 13 matches, so they will struggle to claim all three points against Santos.
Head-to-head: Santos have only managed to win one of their previous five meetings with Corinthians, failing to score on three occasions during that period.
With 29 Santos wins, 26 Corinthians wins and 22 draws coming in the past 77 encounters, there has been very little between the teams in recent years.
Team news: Santos will be without the injured quartet of Sandry, Luan Dias, Felipe Jonatan and Alex for the visit of Corinthians.
As for Corinthians, they are currently without Paulinho, Gustavo Mosquito and Ruan Oliveira, who remain sidelined due to injury.
Although both sides have struggled to get going this season, there is no denying that Santos have performed better than Corinthians.
With that in mind, Forebet predicts that Santos will claim the bragging rights this time around, notching a clean-sheet victory over Corinthians.
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