Brazilian Serie A leader Botafogo is looking to extend its winning streak to six games on Saturday, facing sixth-placed Bragantino at home.
Botafogo also has a chance to register a sixth consecutive clean sheet and bookmaker 10bet has the odds at 2.60 for the home team to not concede. Meanwhile, the odds are at 3.85 for Bragantino to record a clean sheet in the contest.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: July 14th, 10:30 A.M. (EST)
Botafogo has made a huge jump forward after finishing the 2022 campaign only 11th. The club has suffered two relegations in the past nine seasons so winning a championship in 2023 would really be a stuff of dreams. With 14 games played, it’s still a bit early to start talking about Botafogo becoming the Brazilian champion, but the team does already boast a 10-point advantage over the rest of the pack and it won’t be easy for the competitors to close it.
Saturday marks the start of a new era for the side from Rio de Janeiro. Portuguese manager Luis Castro has been the man behind Botafogo’s early season success, but he jumped at the chance to coach Cristiano Ronaldo at Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia and Bruno Lage has come in to take over the baton.
Lage has arrived in Brazil only this week and won’t have had much time to work with the team in training. This could be a big advantage for Bragantino, although the Botafogo team has been working like a well-oiled machine and Castro’s absence hasn’t seemingly bothered the players at all, with the side winning both games under caretaker boss Cacapa.
Having conceded just seven times so far, defense is definitely Botafogo’s biggest strength, and it’s going to be interesting to see how well the team does if Tiquinho Soares’ form fades. The former Porto and Olympiacos man has been producing some special stuff for Botafogo this season, scoring 10 goals and delivering four assists in 11 appearances.
Bragantino is also an in-form team. Ahead of the visit to Estadio Olímpico Nilton Santos, Pedro Caixinha has led his troops to a five-game unbeaten streak. There have been three wins during the run and only one goal conceded. Across the last 11 league outings, Bragantino has suffered only one loss, and based on the visitors’ current form, Lage clearly won’t be getting an easy introduction to Brazilian football Saturday.
