Corinthians vs Novorizontino Prediction: The season has barely started, yet Corinthians is already in crisis

Three straight defeats have put Corinthians in the bottom place of Paulistão's Group C, in a truly worrying start for its supporters. The Timão even started the season with a 1-0 home win against Guarani, but the following games showed the weaknesses of Mano Menezes' team. The last defeat was at home to rival São Paulo, which had never won at the Neo Química Arena, built in 2014. Losing a classic when everything is going wrong is a huge blow.

The Timão continues to be a side that struggles to create chances and finish. The team lacks the flair and creativity in the attacking sector worthy of the club's greatness. Renato Augusto's departure to Fluminense has further deprived the team of passing quality in midfield. Raniele, signed from Cuiabá, seems to be Corinthians' best signing so far this year; too little for the team's shortcomings. The club has serious financial problems and has badly started the Paulistão. It's imperative to beat Novorizontino, or Mano Menezes could become a target for criticism.

The Tiger of the Valley has yet to lose despite being in last place in Group D. The team has six points from one win and three draws. Two of these draws were with group leaders Palmeiras and Mirassol. Novorizontino caused a lot of problems to the Brazilian champion in round 1, we shouldn't forget. Grêmio Novorizontino has never managed to pick up a point at the Neo Química Arena in the three times it has played there, but the Tiger may have an opportunity to reverse history here, given the moment Corinthians is going through.

Corinthians has been struggling to find the net, scoring just two goals in four matches. On the other hand, Novorizontino has only conceded two goals in four games so far, which makes me think it could be a low-scoring contest. Corinthians will always be the favorite for this match as there's no comparison between the two clubs' dimensions, but, at the moment, I don't feel confident in betting on a Corinthians victory. I will, therefore, bet on a score of less than 2.5 goals, which allows me to prevent a few different outcomes as long as there are few goals.