Approaching the top teams is at stake when these two mid-table teams do battle. Both are aiming to better their league status, Ituano in 12th and Sport Recife in 7th place.
- Ituano have the most dropped points from leading position (14) in Serie B
- Sport Recife have won significantly less corners away then at home.
These teams have little in common geographically as Sport Recife have to travel 2600 kilometers to reach their opponents. The trip home will be especially long if the match ends in defeat.
Ituano have less rest than Sport Recife in this fixture, as the hosts were involved in a Serie B game only four days ago. That game was an away game at Vila Nova, so at least Ituano are thankful to return home in this one. Game on!
Ituano form and stats
The Serie B results playing at home this season for Ituano are 3-5-2 (wins-draws-losses).
Ituano shared the glory with Vila Nova in their last match, an away game that ended all square 1-1. Defender Sergio got the top score of the team in the match with a rating of 7.62/10. Sergio hit one key pass and won 5 of 6 duels.
In the game before, an away victory match versus CSA with a 3-1 scoreline.This is expected to be a close game, with Ituano perhaps considered small favourites due to their home advantage. Looking back at earlier matches similar to this one (expected to be close with Ituano as a small favourite), we find 12 games. Ituano has won 9 of these, drawn 1 and lost 2.
Trouble hitting the net? Looking at this team's last 11 league matches, 9 have seen less than three goals (under 2.5).
There will be little rest for Ituano after this match as they are travelling to Bahia for a Serie B game in only three days.
The goals haven't exactly been flowing for Ituano here at Estádio Municipal Dr. Novelli Júnior in the league, with less than one goal per game on average (9 from 10 games). Ituano have only conceded 7 from their league home games. For more goal stats, check the Statistics tab above.
Sport Recife form and stats
The hunting on away grounds haven’t been very fruitful for Sport Recife so far with only 9 points returning home. The records show 1-6-4 (win-draw-lose).
There were no winners in Sport Recife's previous match, the home game that ended 1-1 vs Criciuma (placed 9th). The draw against Criciuma came from a losing position. The Recife manager Oliveira brought on Love as a substitute and the player scored to make the scores level. Fabinho got a match rating of 7.6 in that game, top player of the team. Fabinho dribled past the opponent 1 of 1 times.
Prior to that match, a home win 2-1 against Guarani.So, this is expected to be a close game, an even contest. Looking at earlier matches with Sport Recife playing away and similar expectations, we found 6 relevant matches. Results were 1 Sport Recife win, 3 draws and 2 defeats.
A tale of few goals? 18 of this team's last 22 league rounds have contained zero, one or two goals.
A quick return to home after this game, as Sport Recife are hosting CSA in the Serie B only four days away.
Goals are few and far between in Recife's away league games. Only 5 goals from 11 travels. They concede less than a goal on average per away game (10 so far).
Head 2 Head
These two sides faced each other earlier this season: Sport Recife - Ituano 1-0. Ituano-Sport Recife H2H statistics last four meetings regardless of arena: Ituano one win, Sport Recife two wins, one draw. one of these four matches had three or more goals (over 2,5).
Top Goalscorers
  J. Parraguez Herrera 4 goals |  A. Tavella 3 goals |
Ituano missing players
Sport Recife missing players
| Ituano | Sport Recife | ||||||
| Total | Home | vs | Statistics | Stat | vs | Away | Total |
| 22 | 10 | 2 | Played | P | 3 | 11 | 22 |
| 6 | 3 | 0 | Won | W | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 9 | 5 | 0 | Drew | D | 2 | 6 | 10 |
| 7 | 2 | 2 | Lost | L | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 23 | 9 | 2 | Scored | S | 2 | 5 | 16 |
| 22 | 7 | 4 | Conceded | C | 5 | 10 | 14 |
| 86% | 70% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 67% | 64% | 68% |
| 68% | 50% | 100% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 67% | 36% | 41% |
| 32% | 30% | 100% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 33% | 18% | 18% |
| 14% | 10% | 0% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 33% | 9% | 5% |
| 5% | 0% | 0% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 33% | 9% | 5% |
| 59% | 50% | 100% | BTTS | BTTS | 67% | 36% | 32% |
| 32% | 50% | 0% | Clean Sheets | C S | 33% | 45% | 55% |
| 23% | 30% | 0% | Failed to Score | F T | 33% | 55% | 45% |
| 4.9 | 5.4 | 9 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 4 | 3.5 | 5.1 |
| 5.2 | 5.9 | 3 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 4.3 | 5.7 | 4.8 |
| 3 | 3.2 | 1.5 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.7 | 2 | 2.2 |
| 3 | 1 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 12.1 | 13.2 | 14.5 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 9.7 | 10.9 | 12.6 |
| 4.1 | 4.9 | 6.5 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 3.3 | 3.3 | 3.6 |
| 25% | 18% | 15% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 20% | 14% | 20% |
| 11.9 | 11.1 | 12 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 15.7 | 16.3 | 13 |
| 3.8 | 2.8 | 3.5 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 6 | 5.9 | 4.3 |
- Ituano have the most dropped points from leading position (14) in Serie B
- Sport Recife have won significantly less corners away then at home.
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Cruzeiro | 22 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 27 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 49 |
| 2 | Bahia | 22 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 25 | 11 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 40 |
| 3 | Grêmio | 22 | 10 | 10 | 2 | 23 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 3 | 12 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 15 | 40 |
| 4 | Vasco da Gama | 22 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 23 | 12 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 39 |
| 5 | Londrina | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 23 | 21 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 15 | 9 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 2 | 33 |
| 6 | Tombense | 22 | 7 | 11 | 4 | 22 | 20 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 16 | 8 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 2 | 32 |
| 7 | Sport Recife | 22 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 16 | 14 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 4 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 31 |
| 8 | Sampaio Correa | 22 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 26 | 25 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 19 | 1 | 29 |
| 9 | Criciuma | 22 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 23 | 21 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 8 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 13 | 2 | 29 |
| 10 | CRB | 22 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 20 | 28 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 19 | -8 | 29 |
| 11 | Novorizontino | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 21 | 26 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 13 | -5 | 27 |
| 12 | Ituano | 22 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 23 | 22 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 15 | 1 | 27 |
| 13 | Ponte Preta | 22 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 17 | 18 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 15 | -1 | 26 |
| 14 | Brusque | 22 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 20 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 13 | -4 | 25 |
| 15 | Operário PR | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 20 | 26 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 16 | -6 | 24 |
| 16 | Chapecoense | 22 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 20 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 13 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 7 | -3 | 24 |
| 17 | CSA | 22 | 3 | 11 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 12 | -8 | 20 |
| 18 | Guarani | 22 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 14 | 26 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 15 | -12 | 19 |
| 19 | Vila Nova | 22 | 2 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 22 | 12 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 14 | -8 | 19 |
| 20 | Nautico | 22 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 30 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 14 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 16 | -12 | 18 |
