São Luiz and Juventude meet this Carnival Tuesday, in Ijuí, at a time when the Rio Grande do Sul state championship is getting close to defining its classifieds.
The Campeonato Gaúcho has a total of 12 teams. The top 8 placed advance to the playoffs and the last 2 in the table fall to the second division next season.
São Luiz
São Luiz enters with high confidence for the clash against Juventude, after having done very well in some tests in the current state championship season.
The team managed a good draw against Grêmio, playing in Porto Alegre, with their opponent having the starting team on the field.
Even so, São Luís played an absolutely intense game, completely blocking the chances of Grêmio, who managed to create little and still had some spaces to play a counterattack.
In the second stage, São Luiz managed to score the goal, and from then on, Grêmio’s actions were limited.
The victory seemed on track, until in the final stretch of the game, striker Everton Galdino deflected a crossed ball and tied the game, but São Luiz certainly deserved a better score on that opportunity.
The team that also did not lose to Internacional, being tied 0-0 when playing at home.
They are a team that tends to show intensity when scoring, defensively they are a good team, but they invariably need space for transitions, to play a good offensive game.
Juventude
Juventude entered the championship theoretically being the third force in the competition, and is placed precisely in third position, behind Internacional and Grêmio.
There are 13 points, 3 less than the Grenal duo, with a campaign of 4 wins, 2 losses and a draw.
An interesting fact is that the youth ranks as the team with the best offensive efficiency, surpassing the first placed teams and scoring 12 goals in total.
In the last round, however, they ended up breaking a sequence of 2 consecutive victories and away from home they ended up in a one-to-one draw against Novo Hamburgo.
Juventude still took the lead with Erick, 20 minutes into the first half, but a few moves later, they conceded the draw and then had problems with Novo Hamburgo’s more pragmatic game.
Conclusion:
I believe that Juventude is still a far superior team to São Luiz, in a technical context, but also tactically.
Due to the higher odds, I can opt for a Juventude handicap line, but the goal line also has value, as Juventude has the quality to score and São Luiz has shown itself to be a team in a moment of high confidence.