While it's clear that Fortaleza has a taste for the win than Bahia, the last three times these boisterous Brazilians squared off, Fortaleza looked as effective as a chocolate tea kettle. Two losses and a draw, splendid.
Peek into the current form though, and we've a different story. Fortaleza's regular season record is boasting more of the wins, fewer losses. Any sharper and it'd cut. Bahia, on the other hand, their scorecard is as balanced as a flamingo wearing roller skates.
Care for the goalkeepers? João Ricardo from Fortaleza has been tremendous. Our man has 20 saves, with a juicy rating of 7.70. For Bahia however, Marcos Felipe is not far behind with a worthy 7.37 rating. Fun fact: the more saves a goalkeeper makes, the less likely the ball goes in the net. You're welcome.
Hopping onto the field, it's time to look over the army each team has lined up. For Fortaleza, bingo, Titi has been on fire recently with an 8.00 rating and a goal under his belt. The rat pack - Tomás Cardona, Benjamin Kuscevic, and Marinho are backing him up admirably, with ratings floating over 7.
Now Bahia's top dogs. Oh boy, the names here could fill the back of a football shirt right down to the hem. Luciano Juba, Gabriel Xavier, and lets not forget Everton Ribeiro are guns blazing with laudable ratings. Yet, what sticks out like a sore thumb is their shot on goal stats. A single shot on goal seldom screams 'Goal Fest'. Been eating breakfast at the 'Unimpressive Café' boys?
Bahia's recent outings show a team with pluck, in decent fettle, but their defense needs to tighten up. Conversely, Fortaleza's recent results are on the rockier side with more losses but, hey, they did bag a victory against Corinthians.
Chin-stroking time now, folks. Considering all this marvelous medley of stats, my money is reluctantly, and with a smidgen of trepidity, on Fortaleza. But only by the width of a bee's whiskers.
Albert’s Prediction: Fortaleza by 1