Londrina welcomes Criciuma in round 35 of the Serie B. Both teams have objectives of their own as Londrina is pushing hard for the play-off while Criciuma needs a few more points for securing their stay in the league.
Londina has a big momentum going for them and in the last 4 matches they are not without chances. Londrina is the sixth team of the league with 51 points and that coveted fourth is 5 points away. They don`t have such strong teams in the last few rounds and let's say taking 10 points wouldn`t be outrageous. Things started going for the better in Londrina when coach Fonseca took over in August and Londrina lost just 3 of 14 matches. They tightened defensively and became very strong on the home ground making it a fortress. All of the last 7 home matches have been won and regularly 2 or more goals scored. Londrina is undefeated in the last 9 matches. The key in the attack has been Dagoberto scoring 14 goals in 16 matches played.
Londrina has a few absences: Thiago Ribeiro(att.21-3), Leandro Almeida (def.12-1); Lucas Costa(def.28-2), Safira(att.17-3) and Matheus Olavo(mid.3-0).
Criciuma could have secured their stay a while back but now have to worry in the last few rounds. Probably a bit of complacency settled in the team. The form is not good as the team has no wins in the last 5 matches taking 2 losses and 3 draws. There was no real blowout though and it has been a long time since they even lost with a few goals difference. In fact, it has been 11 matches since they lost more convincingly. Criciuma is the 14`th team with 42 points and 7 more than the teams in worry. The team hasn`t been overly convincing at home or away though the results are considerably weaker on the road. Criciuma has 4-4-9 away from home and 15:24 gd having the third worst away defense.
Criciuma will be missing a lot: Iago(mid.3-0), Sueliton(def.20-0), Nino(def.29-1), João Paulo(att.14-4), Lucas Coelho(att.5-0) (DM); Marlon(def.26-0) and Zé Carlos(att.,first scorer, 20-6).
With a few important absences in defense and also without the best attacker Criciuma looks set for another defeat. Londrina just has to take the 3 points today and the form speaks in their favor.