Saturday, May 17, 2025 – 20:00 (GMT)

This fixture brings a classic northeastern clash as Fortaleza’s Ceará face Recife’s Sport Recife. When the sides met in Série B last season, in Fortaleza it ended in a 0-0 draw. In the Recife, it was Sport Recife who came out on top with a 2-1 win at home, sealed by a stoppage-time goal from Wellington Silva.

Ceará
Ceará come into this match sitting in sixth place and are unbeaten in their last three league outings in what has been a solid start to the season for the northeastern club.

On Monday evening, they took on Santos away from home and earned a credible point on the road. The match was a fairly dull affair overall, but it was Ceará who created the better chances, registering six shots on target compared to just one from the hosts.

They’ll now be hoping to be more clinical in front of goal as they return to play in front of their own fans.

Sport Recife
It’s the complete polar opposite for Sport Recife, who are the only side in the Brasileirão yet to register a win. From their eight matches, they have drawn two and lost six, with a goal difference of minus 10 and just two points to their name.

They currently sit at the bottom of the table, seven points behind São Paulo, who have nine. That gap highlights just how much work Sport have to do if they want to climb out of the relegation zone.

Sport have now lost six of their last seven matches, and last time out things went from bad to worse. They were hammered 4-0 at home by Cruzeiro. First-half goals from Igor Carius, Kaio Jorge and Matheus Pereira gave the visitors a flying start, before Pereira added his second after the break to compound the misery.

Sport will be desperate to turn things around quickly, or they risk facing a very long and difficult season.

Prediction – Ceará 2-0 Sport Recife