Corinthians will be looking to return to winning ways in the Brazilian Serie A when they welcome Atletico Mineiro to the Neo Quimica Arena for Saturday's top-flight showdown.
The hosts played out a 1-1 draw with Atletico Goianiense last weekend, whereas Mineiro trounced Flamengo 4-0 to end their winless run.
Match preview
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Corinthians last finish top of the pile in Brazil back in the 2017 campaign, but the seven-time national champions have not had such a good time of things in recent years.
With 20 games of the season already gone, Vagner Mancini's side are firmly in mid-table obscurity as they lie 11th in the rankings - amassing just six wins since the season began.
Three of those wins have come in Corinthians' last five matches in the Brasileiro, with Mancini leading his side to victories over Athletico Paranense, Vasco and Internacional in the space of a month, but Corinthians could not make it three wins on the bounce as Goianiense took a point from last weekend's encounter.
Timao also saw their Copa do Brasil campaign come to an end earlier in November as they bowed out at the last-16 stage to second-tier side America Mineiro, and Mancini will be desperate to see his side claim all three points against Atletico Mineiro as they bid to return to the Copa Libertadores.
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Hoping to stop Corinthians in their tracks is Atletico Mineiro, who managed to arrest their slump and avoid going five games unbeaten with a dominant 4-0 victory over fellow high-flyers Flamengo last weekend.
Keno took his tally to nine goals for the league season in that victory, which has lifted Jorge Sampaoli's men up to second in the table, with their superior goal difference seeing them overtake Flamengo.
Atletico Mineiro also have a game in hand over current leaders Internacional, who sit just one point above Sampaoli's side at this midway point, so a first national title for Atletico Mineiro since 1971 is firmly within their reach should they carry the momentum forward from that win over Flamengo.
However, this weekend's visitors have lost their last three on the bounce away from home and have conceded at least two goals on the road in their last five matches, with Atletico Mineiro's solitary victory in that run coming against Goianiense by four goals to three.
Corinthians took the spoils 1-0 in this match last season, but Atletico Mineiro have already beaten Timao in the current campaign as they scraped a 3-2 victory at home back in August.
Corinthians Brasileiro form: LWLWWD
Corinthians form (all competitions): LWLWDD
Atletico Mineiro Brasileiro form: WDLDLW
Team News
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Corinthians
Out: Danilo Avelar, Ruan Oliveira (both ACL)
Doubtful: Leo Santos (knee)
Atletico Mineiro
Out: None
Doubtful: Diego Tardelli (ankle)
We say: Corinthians 1-1 Atletico Mineiro
Atletico Mineiro's away form is concerning for Sampaoli as he looks to keep their title charge going, and a crushing victory over Flamengo should give the visitors plenty of confidence before this showdown. Sampaoli's men will go top if they win here and Internacional fail to beat Santos, but Corinthians have performed relatively well in recent weeks and we can see the hosts coming away with something here - ultimately backing a low-scoring draw.
