Atlético Mineiro go into this fixture following a 0-0 Serie A drawn game against Corinthians.

In that game, Atlético Mineiro had 51% possession and 8 attempts at goal with 3 on target. For their opponents, Corinthians had 13 attempts on goal with 1 on target.

Three or more goals per game were seen in 6 of the past 6 meetings where Atlético Mineiro have taken part. Their opponents scored 7 of them in this period while Atlético Mineiro totted up 15. We will see whether or not that trend can be continued on in this game.

Analysis of their past results shows that Atlético Mineiro:

have not emerged victorious against Criciuma in their previous 3 league matches.

haven\'t been defeated in their previous 5 league matches at home.

In their last fixture, Criciuma drew 1-1 in the Serie A tie with Juventude.

In that match, Criciuma managed 47% possession and 10 attempts on goal with 3 of them on target. The only player on the scoresheet for Criciuma was Renato Kayzer (36\'). Juventude had 15 shots at goal with 4 of them on target. Jean Carlos (64\') scored for Juventude.

For 5 of the previous six clashes featuring Criciuma, a relatively low number of goals have gone in between them and their opposition. The overall average number of goals per game during that period is a paltry 1.83, with the average goals for Tigrão being 1.

Going into this contest, Criciuma have not won away from home in their last 2 league matches.

Head to head

A review of their past head to head meetings stretching back to 17/07/2004 tells us that Atlético Mineiro have won 1 of these and Criciuma 2, with the tally of drawn matches being 3.

An aggregate of 21 goals were yielded between them during those clashes, with 9 of them from Galo and 12 being from Tigrão. The average number of goals per game works out to 3.5.

The previous league game between the two was Serie A match day 26 on 04/10/2014 which ended up with the score at Criciuma 3-1 Atlético Mineiro.

That time, Criciuma had 35% possession and 13 shots at goal with 5 of them on target. The goalscorers were Rafael Pereira (6\') and Souza (19\', 61\').

For their opponents, Atlético Mineiro had 10 shots on goal with 4 of them on target. Carlos Júnior (13\') was the scorer.

The referee was Francisco Carlos Nascimento.

Team News: Atlético Mineiro

The Atlético Mineiro boss Gabriel Milito will be thankful to have no fitness concerns to speak of coming into this clash thanks to a completely healthy group available for selection.

We are thinking that Galo will possibly line up in a 4-4-2 formation for this game featuring Everson, Renzo Saravia, Mauricio Lemos, Jemerson, Guilherme Arana, Igor Gomes, Alan Franco, Otavio, Matias Zaracho, Hulk and Paulinho.

Team News: Criciuma

Thanks to a completely injury-free group available to select from, the Criciuma boss Claudio Tencati does not have any fitness concerns at all coming into this clash.

We believe Tigrão will likely make use of a 4-4-2 system, giving starts to Alisson, Claudinho, Rodrigo Fagundes, Walisson Maia, Marcelo Hermes, Higor Meritao, Fellipe Mateus, Barreto, Marquinhos Gabriel, Arthur Caíke and Eder.

Prediction

It looks to us that Atlético Mineiro will probably get amongst the goals when they line up against Criciuma, who will be up against it to get a goal of their own.

We can therefore see a fairly comfortable 2-0 winning score for Atlético Mineiro after 90 minutes.