Owner of one of the best campaigns in the second round of the Brazilian Championship 2017, but is still threatened by relegation, Vitória has on Thursday, October 12, the classic against Sport ahead. Pernambucan rubro-negros also have the rope around their necks. Marked for the Manoel Barradas stadium, Barradão, in Salvador, the match is part of the twenty-seventh round of the Brasileirão and starts scheduled for 17h (Brasília time).

The recent performance of Vitoria

The Bahian Lion owns one of the best performances in the second round of the Brasileirão. This reaction allowed the team headed by coach Vagner Mancini to leave the sticking region after spending much of the first round of the competition in the uncomfortable situation.
With a 3-2 victory over Botafogo in the twenty-sixth round, the Bahians had 32 points (nine wins, five draws and 12 wins). Thus, they started the day of number 27 in eleventh position.
The distance to the sticking region, however, is still short. Only two points separated Vitória from Sport, who with 30 points (eight wins, six draws and 12 losses) opened the relegation zone early in the round. Soon, the Northeastern classic of Thursday is ranked in the standings table.
The right to play at home, which would excite fans from virtually every team, does not have the same effect on the supporters of Vitoria. The red-black of Salvador is the worst host of the 2017 edition of Brasileirão. Of the 39 points that disputed in that condition, it gained only nine (two victories, three ties and eight losses). He made 13 goals and took 21. He has the worst home defense of the tournament.
For the duel of this Thursday, Mancini can count on the return of his two sides considered headlines. Recovered from injury, Juninho must be scaled on the left. On the right, also after being released by the medical department, Caíque Sá regains his place. Thus, the probable team for the classic Northeastern is: Caique; Caíque Sá, Wallace, Ramon and Juninho; Uillian Correia, Fillipe Soutto, Yago and Neilton; David and Tréllez.

The current form of Sport

Sport has a contrary trajectory. He had a superior performance in the first round when he reached the qualifying zone for the 2018 Copa Libertadores of America. But he lost his breath in the final rounds of the first half of the Brasileirão and maintained that performance at the beginning of the second round.
Commandered by Vanderlei Luxemburgo, the Pernambucan Lion has not won the Brazilian Championship since July 30, when he also went to Salvador and returned home with three more points in the bag by beating Bahia at Fonte Nova by 3-1. Since then, were nine matches with three draws and six defeats. The most recent of them against Sao Paulo, by 1 to 0, in Morumbi, in the twenty-sixth round.
The game in front of the Sao-Paulians served at least to give more hope to the fans, since Sport managed to make a good performance and only failed to draw with two spectacular goals from goalkeeper Sidon in the final moments of the confrontation.
Despite this, Luxembourg must make changes in the lineup for Thursday’s match. The first of these is the return of veteran defender Durval. By technical option, he assumes the position that had been occupied by Ronaldo Alves. It will form area double with Henriquez.
In the midfield, with Rithely, suspended by the accumulation of yellow cards, Patrick, who fulfilled in the Morumbi punishment for the same reason, returns to the team. However, it has a chance of being moved to the left-hand side. This will depend on the physical conditioning presented by the holder of the position, the Chilean Mena, assigned to the qualifying contest for the 2018 World Cup.
Another that comes back from suspension, but by red card, is the midfielder Diego Souza. Rogério goes to the reservation bank. The probable team for the confrontation is Magrão; Raul Prata, Henríquez, Durval and Mena; Anselmo, Patrick, Wesley and Diego Souza; Osvaldo and André.

History of the bouts between Vitória and Sport
Eight wins for each side and six draws. This is the retrospect of the encounters between the red-black Northeasterns in the history of the Brasileirão. In the first round of the 2017 season, Vitória scored 3-1 in Recife.