Botafogo head into the FIFA Club World Cup as South American champions but if they slip up in their Group B opener with Seattle Sounders they will face a tall order to reach the knockout stages.
With Champions League kings Paris St-Germain and Atletico Madrid the other teams in the section, the bookies make both European giants odds-on to advance.
But Botafogo are just 6/4 with most firms to reach the knockout stage so the Brazilians could spring a few surprises if they hit the form that saw them go all the way in last year's Copa Libertadores.
Their domestic results this season haven't been great though, with just five wins from 11 in Brazil's Serie A, and Seattle have home advantage as they look to claim a scalp.
The Sounders qualified as past winners of the CONCACAF Champions League but that triumph came three years ago and their domestic league form also isn't great.
Seattle sit mid-table in the Western Conference after winning just seven of their 18 MLS games so they will need to up their game to avoid defeat against the Brazilians.
The bookies certainly don't hold out much hope for them in this section, with the Sounders as big as 4/1 to finish in the top two.
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How the bookies view it: Sounds like trouble
Although Seattle are on home turf, BoyleSports make them 3/1 outsiders for this group opener. Botafogo are 4/5 favourites and the draw pays 5/2.
Head to head: History in the making
These sides have never faced off before as this is the first time Botafogo have played in the Club World Cup. Seattle graced the tournament back in 2022 but lost their only game 1-0 to Egyptian side Al Ahly.
Players to watch: King Artur
Winger Artur heads into the Club World Cup with his confidence up after scoring three times in his last five outings. The former Zenit St Petersburg man is 12/5 at Bet365 for anytime scorer and 6/5 to either score or assist.
Midfielder Albert Rusnak could cause a few problems for Seattle. He is on the penalties and set-pieces, with the Slovak providing seven goals and three assists in the MLS this season. He's 10/3 for a goal here with Bet365 and 15/8 to score or assist.
Probable line-ups
Botafogo's squad is in pretty good shape heading into the Club World Cup, with just forward Jeffinho on the sidelines. Seattle have bigger injury problems, with Paul Arriola, Jordan Morris, Yeimar Gomez, Kee-Hee Kim and Stuart Hawkins set to miss out.
Botafogo: John, Telles, Barboza, Jair, Vitinho, Freitas, Gregore, Savarino, Cuibano, Artur, Jesus.
Seattle Sounders: Frei, C Roldan, Ragen, Bell, Nouhou, A Roldan, Vargas, Kent, Rusnak, La Vega, Morris.
Anything else catch the eye?
Botafogo's last domestic game was a 3-2 win over Ceara but their four matches before that had produced just three goals in total. So it's hard to predict if we'll see goals here but I reckon both teams will go for the win as they will probably need three points to stand any chance of going through,
That makes over 2.5 goals appealing at 20/21 with BoyleSports while betting on BTTS is in the same ballpark at 20/23.
Botafogo's last three games have all failed to hit double figures for corners so it could pay to bet against a lot of flag kicks once that market is priced up.
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