Sao Paulo (Brazil) vs Ceara (Brazil)
Sao Paulo FC haven’t found any problem to overcome Universidad Catolica from Chile in the previous round: they won 4-1 at home in the return leg to make it a 8-3 aggregate result. However, it all changes in the league: O Tricolor lost 1-0 away at Athletico Paranaense last Sunday, which places them in tenth spot of the Brasileirao table, far away from the Copa Libertadores berths at the moment. The team won only one of their last seven competitive matches in regular time (drawing four and losing two). On a positive note, Sao Paulo are on six home matches unbeaten, having won three and drawn three since losing to Palmeiras in June.
Ceara SC are making history in the Copa Sudamericana: they reached the quarter-finals for the first time ever after beating Bolivia’s The Strongest 3-0 at home (5-1 on aggregate) and made it eight victories out of eight games in this competition in 2022. On a sorry note, O Vozao lost 2-1 at home to Palmeiras last Saturday, which represented their second consecutive loss in league action. They are now occupying the 14th place in the league table, just four points above the relegation zone. Ceara also lost the last two on away turf (to Fluminense and Juventude).
While neither is in great form, we have a giant club like Sao Paulo at home, with a lot of experience on this kind of competitions, while Ceara is a small club that is also struggling in the brazilian league so I have to go with the hosts to win this 1st leg.