Internacional will visit Santa Cruz on Wednesday night, in a match that could lead to the pole position in the state championship of Rio Grande do Sul.
The Campeonato Gaúcho has a total of 12 teams, the top 8 placed advance to the next phase and the last 2 in the table fall to the second division.
Santa Cruz
Today, Santa Cruz would be falling to the second division, as they and Avenida are in the relegation zone.
The one with the most delicate situation is Internacional’s opponent, as the team occupies the last position, with just 2 points.
In fact, it is the only team that has not won a single match, having 2 draws and 3 defeats, only 3 goals scored and 7 conceded.
It is a team that has a lot of difficulty, especially in being more purposeful. Coming from the second division last year, they rose with the clear objective of remaining in the elite of Rio Grande do Sul football, and, if possible, a place in Series D. But even plan A is proving difficult to achieve.
Clearly it is a team with a lot of technical difficulties in relation to its opponents, and even playing at home, against Inter, it will certainly be completely reactive.
In the last match, Santa Cruz away from home lost to Brasil de Pelotas 2-0. Brasil is a team that has a lot of offensive difficulties and until that moment had only scored twice in the competition.
Internacional
Internacional, in turn, comes under pressure for a positive result, to remain in the fight for leadership.
The team appears in second place with 10 points, 2 below Grêmio, and therefore a victory is essential.
In this round, Grêmio will face Novo Hamburgo at home, they have a great chance of emerging victorious and if Inter doesn’t win, it would be very difficult to reach the top of the table until the end of the qualifying phase.
The team is coming off a great home win over Caxias, 2-0. After a very difficult first half, striker Luca came on in the second half and scored 2 beautiful goals.
However, coach Eduardo Coudet has adopted a clear strategy, which is to place his starting players at home and when he plays indoors, with conditions especially on the pitch that are not ideal, the commander fields a mixed team.
As a result, the team ended up having problems recently, as they drew 0-0 with São Luiz, and then lost to Guarany de Bagé 2-1, the team that was last placed until then.
In the second half, some starters come on, but sometimes they don’t end up being able to reverse the situation.
Given the criticism received, it is possible that the coach will field a greater number of starters, but even so, he will not go at full strength.
The point is that now Inter faces the worst team in the championship and will invariably come in with favoritism, even with a mixed team.
Conclusion:
Santa Cruz is very weak, especially when they need to be more offensive. This way, my betting choice will be on Internacional’s handicap line, and if logic comes into play, the team will even win with some peace of mind.