Preview: Santos vs. Athletico Paranaense - prediction, team news, lineups

Athletico Paranaense square off against Santos on Tuesday evening looking to retain their grip of top spot in the Brasileiro standings.

While Santos currently sit down in seventh position, the home side can move to within four points of the pacesetters with victory at the Urbano Caldeira Stadium.

Match preview

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After their poor start to the season, the Santos hierarchy did not wait long before turning to Fernando Diniz in a bid to get their campaign back on track.

The appointment of the well-travelled 47-year-old came too late to keep the club in the Copa Libertadores, but there are signs that the Alvinegro are making the required improvements under their new boss.

Their three defeats from nine top-flight fixtures have all come away from home, while a four-match unbeaten streak had been put together before Saturday's 2-0 reverse at America Mineiro.

Diniz will prefer to focus on just one goal being conceded in five home fixtures, which came from the penalty spot during their first game against Ceara.

Nevertheless, with just nine goals coming in as many matches, Diniz needs more quality in the final third with Marinho currently the leading marksman with three strikes to his name.

As far as Athletico PR are concerned, Antonio Oliveira and his squad will be delighted with sitting in first place after eight matches.

Athletico's hard work during the early weeks was on the way to being undone when they went two games without success towards the end of June, but they have since posted victories over Fluminense and Fortaleza.

The latter of those wins, over a team who could potentially emerge as a title rival, saw Matheus Babi chip in with his third goal in seven appearances.

On a negative note, Athletico have now gone five matches without keeping a clean sheet, something which must change if they are to remain at the top of the table in the long term.

Team News

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Diniz will almost certainly make alterations to his Santos XI with Carlos Sanchez one of several players potentially being brought back into the team.

Madson and Moraes are alternatives at right-back and left-back respectively, but Kaio Jorge is expected to remain out of contention as he continues to be linked with a move to the Premier League.

Oliveira could opt to stick with the same 11 players which performed impressively against Fortaleza on Saturday night.

Athletico were two goals to the good before finally making a change after 77 minutes, the subsequent period seeing their opponents net a consolation goal.

Leo Cittadini and Erick are options in the centre of the pitch if Oliveira wishes to introduce fresh legs, while Carlos Eduardo may feature on the right flank.

Santos possible starting lineup:
Paulo; Madson, Felipe, Kaiky, Jonatan; Camacho, Mota; Marinho, Sanchez, Braga; Guilherme

Athletico Paranaense possible starting lineup:
Santos; Marcinho, Henrique, Heleno, Vinicius; Richard, Christian; Terans, Nikao, Vitinho; Babi

We say: Santos 1-1 Athletico Paranaense

Having lost last time out, Santos will surely be satisfied with a share of the spoils from this contest. With that in mind, we do not expect the most attack-minded performance from the home team, something which may lead to a low-scoring draw.