With ares of decision, Fluminense and Ponte Preta will face this Monday, November 20. The duel is fundamental to the team’s fight in an attempt to avoid relegation to Serie B. It is part of the schedule of the thirty-sixth round (antepenultimate) of the Brazilian Championship of 2017. Scheduled to start at 17h (Brasília time), it will be held in Maracanã. The choice of the afternoon period for the departure was made by having Rio de Janeiro celebrate with Holiday the Black Consciousness Day.

Fluminense’s recent performance

The situation of the Rio tricolor in the fight against the decline was complicated by the defeat, 3 to 1, of turn, for Corinthians, on the night of Wednesday, November 15. With that, the team remained parked in the 43 points (ten wins, 13 draws and 12 losses).
Although the result was poor, it can not be considered surprising. Facing a rival that needed the victory to confirm the title achievement of the Brasileirão, Fluminense presented the same mistakes that caused successive failures throughout the season. He even came out ahead with a goal in the opening minutes of the first half, but the loose markings and positioning failures in the balls raised to the area made life easier for the rival.
With only a win in the last few games, the team’s standard makes it the focus to escape relegation even in games against direct rivals. After Ponte Preta, the team will face Sport, also in Maracanã. All this to not depend on the victory against Atlético-GO on the final day.
To face the Macaca, coach Abel Braga can count on the return of left-back Marlon. He was sent off in the defeat for Cruzeiro, also by 3 to 1, in Belo Horizonte, in the thirty-fourth round. You have followed the automatic suspension and you are now able to play.
Another option that the coach must win is the Douglas flyer. With muscle fatigue, he was out of the match against Corinthians. Clear sign that the tricolor had no ambition to win in São Paulo and knows that their fight is against the teams at the bottom of the leaderboard.
They may not be the only two changes. Providing clear signs that he is completely lost, Abel Braga has made constant changes in the team, without achieving the expected results.

The current form of Ponte Preta

Campinas’s alvinegro, however, seems to have found his way. After drawing with Coritiba, 1 to 1, in the capital of Parana, coach Eduardo Baptista decided to reward his players for the performance considered good and reaped the fruits of the decision. On Wednesday, November 15, at home, defeated Atletico-PR by 2 to 1.
It was not enough to get the team out of the relegation zone. With 39 points (ten wins, ten draws and 16 losses), however, the Macaca approached the 45 mark that is considered safety to prevent the fall.
The midfielder Danilo Barcelos ended up becoming the symbol of this attempt to react in the final stretch. After taking injections to combat the fever of 40 degrees that had few hours before the match, entered the field and made the two goals of the team campineira.
It is quite likely that the coach will maintain the strategy used and retain the base of the team that overcame the Hurricane. This means that two athletes who receive the highest salaries paid by the club must remain outside. The midfielder Fernando Bob was related to the bench against Atlético-PR and was not used. Veteran striker Emerson Sheik has not even been linked.

History of the bouts between Fluminense and Ponte Preta
From 1971, the confrontation had 22 editions in the Brasileirão with ten tricolor victories, six successes of the Macaca and six equalities. In the first round of 2017, in Campinas, the teams were 0-0.

Disorganized tactically, the Fluminense has in the fragility of Ponte Preta as it acts as visitor as greater factor to have optimism before the decision. The Macaca has the worst advantage of the Brasileirao when it leaves its dominions. Of the 51 points played in that situation, he won only nine (one win, six draws and ten losses).
So the tricolor guess is the best option for decisive duel. It has a price of 2.00 in Rivalo. Draw returns 3.40. Success of the Campinas team multiplies the investment by 3.80