Botafogo vs 
Santos KO 5:30PM EST
Location: Engenhão
Botafogo Home Form: 0W 2D 0L
Santos Road Form: 1W 2D 0L
The heat is on Ney Franco. A lack of positive results has seen the Botafogo fans become restless and lots of fingers are pointing at Ney Franco. Sure they lost Maicosuel but it does not mean they cannot compete. The Engenhão has been empty for the most part this season so there is a lack of home field advantage. Botafogo just seems like a club not willing to invest at this current time, worried about future debts they have to pay off, they are now struggling to reinforce and lack cover for Maicosuel and the injured Reinaldo. The club has scored a miserable 3 goals in 5 games thus far and are still winless this season. They are another club that is on the verge of an internal meltdown, do the players even care at this point in time or is change really necessary to spark a revival? Botafogo need to know how it feels like to score on a consistent basis and that in itself is such a major challenge for them at this point in time. Constant rotation by Franco is often confusing the players and their roles are sometimes reversed. A win here could ease the tension at the club but it may not be enough. The stadium is lacking any sort of fans filling it up so any road team visiting could have just as many fans supporting them as the home crowd.
Santos seems to have finally gotten a new era of youngsters together. The club is well known for producing random gem’s and so far this year the youngsters are really proving their worth. Having started the year undefeated, the squad can score and when you have players such as Neymar, Madson and Kleber to lead your attack you are bound to see some entertaining football. There is no denying the talent of Santos, however sometimes too much youth can be a bad thing, a lack of experience can eventually be their downfall. The club has proven it can play on the road this year and won’t be surprising that come end of the season Santos will be the most successful road team in the league. Having already played Gremio, Fluminense, and Santo Andre on the road in league play and coming out with points in all 3, the club also had some regional games against Corinthians and Palmeiras where again they were unfazed by being the road team and came out with a positive result.
Again we see two teams in opposite directions. Botafogo struggling to gain some confidence, Santos just on fire, scoring goals all over. The key here is whether or not Botafogo can score and can Santos play some defense? Santos has failed to see any sort of cleansheet in their last 7 overall games, Botafogo on the other hand have managed to be a part of 3 games with cleansheets. End of the day a team that has more internal pressure facing a team that seems to be very relaxed can lead to quite a disaster for Botafogo. A Santos win could be a blessing in disguise for Botafogo as they really need some drastic changes before it is too late. Santos to come out victorious and maintain their unbeaten record.
Projected Line-ups:
Botafogo: Renan; Alessandro, Leandro Guerreiro, Emerson and Eduardo; Fahel, Léo Silva, Batista, Lúcio Flávio; Tony and Victor Simões.
Santos: Fábio Costa; Wagner Diniz (Pará), Fabão, Fabiano Eller and Léo; Roberto Brum, Rodrigo Souto, Paulo Henrique Lima, Madson and Molina; Kléber Pereira.
Prediction: Botafogo 1-3 Santos
Here is some eye candy for you boys out there, a devoted Santos fan doing a little tribute about the club.
