Ponte Preta vs Botafogo Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

Of the newly promoted sides, Botafogo are the one that really looks to be warming to the task of top flight football. They are improving as the weeks go by and come into this following a huge 3-1 win against Palmeiras at the weekend, a result that knocked their opponents off top spot. It’s just 1 defeat in 5 games now for the Rio de Janeiro club and they’ve moved up to 14th as a result but are still only a bad result away from slipping back into the drop-zone, so there is no room to rest on their laurels. They will though be thinking positive and a win here will move them just 1 point behind Ponte Preta in 8th place.

The side from Sao Paulo state have had a mixed run of results in truth and you never really know what you are going to get from Ponte Preta. The last 7 days is a good example of that. They hammered top flight Figueirense 5-0 in the Copa do Brasil only to slump to a 3-0 league defeat against a Fluminense side, who hadn’t been scoring many goals, just 3 days later. They’ve only lost 1 of their last 6 home league games, winning 4 of them, but that sole defeat was a crushing 4-0 loss against a Cruzeiro side who are having an otherwise nightmare season.

Botafogo will be hoping they catch Ponte Preta on an off-day but the one thing that does look likely here, regardless of how Ponte Preta play, is that there will be goals. Botafogo have adopted a bold approach for a newly promoted club, frequently playing positively on the road and there have been over 2.5 goals in 5 of their last 6 away league games. 7 of Ponte Preta’s 8 home league games this season have also produced over 2.5 goals,therefore, you can get cracking value by backing there to be Over 2.5 Goals at 11/10 here.