Botafogo vs Madureira – Preview, Prediction and Betting Tips 17/01/2024

This week we’ll see the start of several state championships for Brazilian football and one of the most traditional in the country will also have its kickoff.

One of the main attractions of the Campeonato Carioca is Botafogo, which last season competed for the title of Brazil’s national league and has its first clash in the Guanabara Cup, this Wednesday night, against the Madureira team.

Botafogo

Botafogo comes under absolute pressure this season, after the incredible loss of the Brazilian Championship title in 2023.

The team was not considered the favorite in the national league, but it had such an exceptional first round that it practically won it.

However, it was an absolutely apathetic team in the second half, changes in coach, internal problems and with that, the problems of a not so qualified squad began to appear, as at the beginning of the competition they were not considered the big favorites.

For this year, 2024, the team continues with coach Tiago Nunes, who finished last season.

He has been making changes to the team, to try to implement a competitive game model.

Several changes have been made for this season and for this debut, Tiago Nunes has been experimenting, and one of them is a system with 3 defenders.

It is a model based on European football and widely used in recent seasons, with a more aggressive 3-4-3.

According to information, the tendency is for Botafogo to start the Campeonato Carioca with the main squad, which other teams may not do, placing young players from the youth teams.

But the black and white team, even aiming for the Pre-Libertadores, which comes right after, needs to get its players up to speed with the competition.

However, at least in the first round the tendency is not for the main players to be on the field.

Still, Botafogo certainly faces a team that must be very aggressive, even to give a quick response to its fans, who start 2024 very suspicious.

Madureira

Madureira, in turn, has competing in the state league as its priority.

Generally, challenging teams in state leagues have names known to the general public, and Madureira is no different.

There are players like Rodrigão, a former Santos player, and also Hugo Borges, formerly of Vasco, who form Madureira’s attack.

The tendency is for Madureira to be a naturally reactive team, even because they play away from home and against one of the main teams in the league.

The competition has a total of 12 teams, where the top 4 advance to the semi-finals and the teams placed between fifth and eighth place will compete in the Rio Cup.

Perhaps being among the top 4 in the league will be very difficult for Madureira, as the theoretical favorites are Flamengo, Fluminense, Botafogo and Vasco.

But to try to stay in the fight for one of these places and far away from relegation, scoring points in each round is essential. That’s why I believe in a game where the visiting team is very reactive.

Due to the fact that Botafogo enters with a mixed team in these first rounds, betting on stretched handicap lines may be dangerous.

Conclusion:

Although it doesn’t have such a high price, I’ll stick with the home team’s victory market, especially due to the local factor and understanding that the synthetic grass at their stadium ends up favoring them a lot, as this was also the case in the last edition of the Brazilian Championship.