Football Bet of the Day: Stalemate for Sampaoli’s new side in crunch Classico Mineiro

Thursday's Football Bet of the Day comes from the Mineirao in Belo Horizonte, where Cruzeiro are hosting local rivals Atletico Mineiro (23:30 BST) in the second leg of their Copa do Brasil quarter-final tie.

Cruzeiro won the reverse fixture 2-0 at the MRV Arena last month, meaning the visitors have it all to do in this week's Classico Mineiro.

Football Odds

Atletico were the nearly men of Brazilian football last year as they finished runner-up in both the Copa do Brasil and Copa Libertadores, losing in the final to Flamengo and Botafogo, respectively.

Galo weren't even close to second in Serie A, though, as they finished 12th, 32 points behind league champions Botafogo.

They've been poor in the league this season, too, sitting 14th on 24 points after 20 games played, and losing their last three in the competition.

Today's Football Fixtures

Cruzeiro, meanwhile, have won their last two Serie A matches, and are second in the table, just three points behind leaders Flamengo, albeit the Rubro-Negro have a game in hand on Raposa. Their 44-point haul so far this term is just eight behind their tally after 38 games in 2024, when they finished ninth and missed out on qualifying for the Copa Libertadores by a single point.

A sturdy defence has been a large part of their success under Leonardo Jardim, who has seen his side keep clean sheets in half (11) of their league outings.

Cruzeiro are also yet to concede a goal in the domestic cup, beating Vila Nova 2-0 (H) and 3-0 (A) in the round of 32 before overcoming CRB in the last 16, drawing 0-0 (H) in the first leg before triumphing 2-0 (A) in the second.

Raposa look to have one foot in the semi-finals after second-half strikes from Fabricio Bruno and Kaio Jorge condemned Atletico to a 2-0 defeat in their quarter-final home leg on August 27. Jardim's charges then beat Sao Paulo 1-0 in Serie A four days later to record back-to-back shutouts, and an eighth in their last 12 games, two of which ended goalless.

Cruzeiro will be confident of keeping a third straight clean sheet on Thursday against an opponent that has blanked in their last three games. Galo lost 2-0 in the league at Sao Paulo and 1-0 at Vitoria, either side of their first-leg cup defeat, and only four clubs have scored fewer Serie A goals than Atletico (20) this season.

Atletico's shortage of strikes in 2025 is a surprise considering they boast the attacking talents of Hulk, Gustavo Scarpa, Rony and Junior Santos, among others, but only Hulk (seven) has scored more than three league goals this season.

The Copa do Brasil has brought slightly more joy in front of goal, but after sticking six past Serie C side Maringa in a 6-2 aggregate success, they've only managed to score once more across three games. They beat Flamengo 1-0 at the Estadio do Maracana in the first leg of their last-16 tie, but suffered a defeat by the same scoreline at home in the reverse fixture, only progressing to the quarter-finals on penalties, and last time out in the competition, they were beaten 2-0 at the Arena MRV by their local rivals.

Cruzeiro vs Atletico Mineiro Odds

Atletico supporters will hope the arrival of former Chile and Argentina head coach Jorge Sampaoli, who replaced Cuca last week, can transform their fortunes, but it may take the Argentine some time to get his ideas across, and for his players to translate them onto the pitch.

A Cruzeiro win to nil may appeal here, but considering the game state, a goalless draw at 13/2 might be the best bet.

One or both teams have failed to score in the last six head-to-heads, and three of the last five have finished 0-0, including Atletico's last trip to the Mineirao, in Serie A on May 19.

Cruzeiro have drawn 0-0 five times in 2025, while Atletico have experienced six goalless stalemates this calendar year.

Football Bet Of The Day from Betfred Insights.