Football Bet of the Day: Easy prey for Palmeiras at Maracana

I had some success with my football bet of the day articles in Brazil last week, landing a 1/1 selection on Friday and following it up with an 11/10 triumph on Sunday; however, further attempts faltered on Monday and Tuesday.

Nevertheless, we return to Brazil for Thursday's football bet of the day with Palmeiras, who served me well last weekend, headlining an 8/5 shot that has landed eight times already for them in the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A this season.

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Fluminense deprived me of a football bet of the day hat-trick and left me with egg on my face when they broke out of a 10-game winless run to beat Cuiaba 1-0 away from home on Monday.

The 2023 Copa Libertadores champions - in the knockout phase of this year's competition after blitzing Group A in the first half of 2024 - have endured a dismal domestic season thus far, losing 10 of their first 17 games.

However, that Monday victory has taken them ahead of Atletico GO and off the bottom of the standings, albeit on goal difference.

Flu will now be desperate to prove it wasn't a fluke and record back-to-back league wins for the first time this season.

But they will find it tough in midweek when they host back-to-back Serie A champions Palmeiras, who have made a promising start to the season and were only overtaken at the top by Botafogo last Thursday after falling to a 1-0 defeat to the same team in Rio de Janeiro.

Palmeiras recovered from that loss to beat Cruzeiro 2-0 on Sunday, and that was without the services of Chelsea-bound teenage sensation Estevao, who appeared to suffer an injury in his side's prior match.

Fluminense vs Palmeiras Odds

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Concerningly, Palmeiras are winless in their last three away games, also losing 3-0 to Fortaleza and drawing 2-2 with Gremio, though only Botafogo (17) and Flamengo (15) have picked up more points on their travels than Palmeiras (14) at the time of writing.

The Verdao will also take confidence from the home record of their opponents on Thursday.

Fluminenese have taken just seven points from their first eight matches at the Maracana and haven't triumphed there since May when a Copa do Brasil victory over Sampaio Correa (2-0) was sandwiched by wins against Cerro Porteno (2-1) and Alianza Lima (3-2).

Their last league win there was way back on April 20, however, with Flu unsuccessful in six attempts since beating Vasco Da Gama 2-1.

Fernando Diniz will hope Monday's triumph is the start of something positive for his side, but we have to take into account the level of opposition in that game, with Cuiaba teetering above the relegation zone after that defeat.

Palmeiras are currently 25 points clear of Fluminense and finished 14 points ahead of them last season.

I expect Palmeiras to show their usual level on Thursday, but I don't see them inflicting a heavy defeat upon Flu, who have seen 15 of their 17 Serie A outings this term finish with fewer than four goals.

In fact, their last seven contests have seen two goals or fewer, with five of them finishing 1-0 - only one of them in their favour.

Palmeiras, meanwhile, have witnessed 14 of their 18 league games end in three goals or fewer - and they've won eight matches with under 3.5 total goals scored.

Offers

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