Botafogo vs Vasco DA Gama Prediction

Right then, let's have a proper look at this Rio showdown. Botafogo might be sitting pretty in 6th, but their recent form has been about as consistent as a dodgy referee - three wins, four draws, and three losses in their last ten. They've been drawing at home to the likes of Santos (2-2) and getting hammered 0-3 by Flamengo on their own patch. Not exactly fortress material, is it?

Now Vasco, on the other hand, have been absolutely flying. Six wins, three draws, and just one loss in their last ten games - that's proper form, that is. They've been smashing teams for fun: 0-3 at RB Bragantino, 2-0 against Fluminense, 0-2 at Fortaleza. Their only loss came against second-placed Palmeiras, and they even went to Flamengo's place and came away with a 1-1 draw. That's serious bottle.

The stats back it up too - Vasco are netting 1.9 goals per game compared to Botafogo's 1.1, and they're keeping clean sheets half the time. Botafogo are leaking 1.4 goals per game and only keeping the sheet 30% of the time. Here's the kicker though - Vasco's away record (50% wins) is actually better than Botafogo's home record (40% wins). Mental, isn't it?

Head-to-head it's pretty even overall, but the last two meetings were both 1-1 draws. With Vasco in this kind of form and the bookies offering 3.90 for the away win, that's got value written all over it. Sometimes you've got to follow the form, and right now Vasco are playing like they believe they can beat anyone.