Gremio will take on Corinthians in the Brazilian Serie A on Friday, 13 June, with both teams looking to climb the table.
Coming into the match, both teams are locked together on 15 points in the middle of the league table and are as close to the bottom four as they are to the top five.
Although we are still early on in the season, this match could go a long way to determining how the rest of both teams' seasons go.
How the bookies view it: Not much in it
Unsurprisingly, the bookies are sitting on the fence somewhat with this one. BoyleSports have made Gremio the slight favourites, pricing a home win at 7/5, while a victory for Corinthians has been priced at 2/1. The draw, which feels very much on the cards given how close they are in the league table, has been priced at 21/10.
Head to head: Advantage Corinthians
This is a fixture that has been very good to Corinthians in recent years, and they are unbeaten in their last 12 meetings with Gremio. Interestingly, though, nine of those 12 matches finished level, which makes the price of 21/10 on a draw this week look very appealing. Gremio's last win over Corinthians was back in December 2018.
Players to watch: Will the game be decided by overseas stars?
Both teams possess forwards who have a recent history of performing in some of Europe's best leagues, and the game could easily be decided by which one performs better on the night.
For Corinthians, that man is Memphis Depay. The Dutch striker signed for the Brazilian club in 2024 and has reached double digits in terms of goals in relatively quick fashion. Memphis is still only 31 years old and has plenty to offer, so he will be keen to help Corinthians move up the league this season.
For Gremio, it's Martin Branthwaite. The Danish striker is a former teammate of Memphis' at Barcelona, so the pair will know each other well. Branthwaite also joined Brazilian football from Spanish football last year, and he has scored 17 goals in 36 games for Gremio so far.
Predicted line-ups
Gremio will be without three midfielders for this one, with Joao Lucas, Gustavo Cuellar and Edenilson all injured. Joao Pedro and Igor Sorrete are also both in the treatment room.
Memphis Depay will be in a race against time to be fit for this one for Corinthians after playing for the Netherlands during the international break, but his team need him this week with top scorer, Yuri Alberto, injured.
Gremio: Volpi – Martins, Leonardo, Kannemann, Marlon – Dodi, Villasanti – Olivera, Cristaldo, Alysson – Braithwaite
Corinthians: Souza – Matheuzinho, Ramalho, Caca, Bidu – Raniele – Hector, Maycon, Bidon, Magno – Memphis
Anything else catch the eye?
Matches between Gremio and Corinthians have been low-scoring in recent times, and they even enjoyed a four-match streak of consecutive 0-0 draws between 2019 and 2020. Over their last five matches, three of them have produced fewer than three goals and under 2.5 goals to be scored on Friday has been priced at 11/20 by BoyleSports.
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