With a club in the sky and another in hell, the island of Retiro receives on Sunday, November 19, another edition of the classic that decided the title of the 2017 edition of the Northeast Cup. From 17h (Brasília time, 16h in the capital of Pernambuco), Sport and Bahia will have their paths crossed by the thirty-sixth (penultimate) round of the Brazilian Championship.

Sport’s recent performance

The Pernambucans, who were defeated in the decision of the regional tournament, are at the bottom of the well. They took a 5-1 victory over Palmeiras on the night of Thursday, November 16, and were even more sunk in the relegation zone.
Parked in the 36 points (nine wins, nine draws and 15 losses), they are in eighteenth position. The difference for Ponte Preta (seventeenth) and Vitória (sixteenth and first out of the sticking region) is three points.
The math indicates that Rubro-negro Pernambuco has to win the three remaining games to reach the 45 points that are considered necessary to escape the sticking. Sequence that would be unprecedented in the Brazilian Championship of 2017.
The defeat in front of the São Paulo alviverde extended to ten the series of departures without victory. In the period, started more than two months ago, were six defeats and four draws.
Interim coach Daniel Paulista, who has yet to win a game since replacing the dismissed Vanderlei Luxemburgo, blamed missed opportunities at the start of the Palmeiras clash with the resounding failure. The predecessor’s speech was the same. This was repeated throughout the season at the club, which had four different coaches in 2017.
Since this defect is difficult to repair, the short-term way is to try to improve defensive performance. With the thrashing suffered in São Paulo, Sport started to have the most leaked defense of the Brasileirão. There were 57 goals conceded, which generated a deficit of 15 in the balance of goals, criterion that can be decisive in the definition of the four downgraded to Series B.
The masks signify that they no longer believe in a reaction. In the final stretch and with the team with the rope around his neck, they started looking for a coach for 2018. Veteran Nelsinho Baptista is considered the best candidate for the position.

The current form of Bahia

Stability was also not the strong point of Bahia throughout the season. The tricolor, who was champion of the Northeast Cup, had four coaches in 2017. He had no responsibility in the first change, after all, Guto Ferreira left the club of his will to accept a better financial proposal of the International. In the others, the responsibility was of the board, that seemed finally to hit the hand with Paulo César Carpegianni.
The coach, who last year avoided relegation from Coritiba with a reaction in the final stretch, did this and a little more this year. Not only did he put an end to any downside threat as he put Bahia in the qualifying zone for the South American Cup and after a 3-1 victory over Santos on Thursday, hopes were raised for an upgrade. vacancy
The Bahians started to fight for a place in the 2018 Libertadores in this final stretch. They add 49 points (13 wins, 10 draws and 12 losses). They occupy ninth place, but they are against Flamengo, who close the classification zone for the tournament with 50 points in the seventh position, and Vasco, eighth place also with 50 points, but at a disadvantage in the tiebreaker criteria.
As the Mathematically assured Sula spot, Carpegianni could take chances in search of the position in the continent’s most important club tournament. In addition, you still have the chance that the classified block will be expanded. Flamengo, who are in the semifinals of South American, and Grêmio, finalist of the Libertadores, are successful, the zone of classification could extend until the ninth place.
The low for the classic Northeastern will be the half René Júnior. He is suspended by the accumulation of yellow cards. There are no shortage of options for your vacancy. Edson, Matheus Sales, Feijão and Yuri are all candidates to win the berth.

History of the bouts between Sport and Bahia
There were 25 occurrences of the Northeastern classic in Brasileirão. The tricolor won 11. The red-black won six. The draws were eight. In the first round of 2017, in Salvador, the Lion scored 3 to 1.

Sport’s standard of action leaves no room for high hopes. Being able to exploit this situation and owner of a showy style of play, Bahia is the best guessing option for the match. It has a price of 2.90 in Rivalo. Tie pays 3.30 and victory of the owners of the house yields 2.40 per invested real.