Sampaio Corrêa will host Potiguar de Mossoró this Sunday, so that in a single game they can define who advances in the qualifiers for the 2024 Copa do Nordeste.
In total, 12 teams are already guaranteed in the regional tournament and 4 will still leave the competition for this qualifier.
Sampaio Corrêa
Sampaio Corrêa was a team from the second division of the Brazilian Championship, but with the terrible campaign they had in the last edition, they fell to the third national division.
They ended their campaign with a 4-1 away defeat to Sport at the end of November.
With the negative result, the team finished in 17th place, opening the relegation zone, having a campaign of 8 wins, 15 draws and 15 defeats.
This ends up completely destroying the club’s finances, even smaller investments now for the dispute in Series C of the Brazilian Championship and certainly limits the expectations it has for the year 2024.
Their main objective is to return to Series B of the national league, but the Copa do Nordeste is very important, not least because of the prizes that the teams receive for participating.
It is led by coach Thiago Gomes, and has 2 important reinforcements acquired last week for this match: left-back Cortez and striker Bruno Baio.
Although 2023 had an absolutely negative year, the team arrives with a good perspective to advance in the tournament in this first match.
We have also taken into account that this is the first game of the year, the physical aspect is not yet ideal and certainly, the players’ legs still feel heavy due to the pre-season.
The competition regulations provide that victory takes any of these teams to the next phase, but a draw requires a penalty shootout and this ends up being very dangerous even for the favorite team.
According to information, the tendency is for a very offensive Sampaio Corrêa team. Coach Thiago Gomes has already said that he intends to use the team in a 3-4-3 system, with absolutely offensive full-backs.
In theory everything works very well, but at least the expectation is that the team will take action in this game, especially because a draw is all the opponent wants, to have the chance to advance on penalties.
Their first opponent will be the Potiguar de Mossoró team, a team from Rio Grande do Norte.
Potiguar
Potiguar is not exactly a team that we can treat as a great danger for Sampaio Corrêa, at least in theory.
A team that participates in the fourth division of the national league and last season ended the year in August, when they lost to Bahia de Feira.
The team managed to reach the round of 16, but did not have enough strength to advance in the national league.
The campaign still achieved some interesting results, but facing teams technically far below the Brazilian scenario.
For this first game of the year, also having a physical challenge, I believe that Potiguar de Mossoró will be a more reactive team.
Conclusion:
Sampaio Corrêa should be the one to dominate the actions of this confrontation, their odds are very interesting and although there is risk, especially because it is their debut in 2024, I’ll bet on their victory this Sunday.