Brasileirão 2024 - 3rd Round

Last weekend (April 21st and 22nd), the 3rd round of the Brazilian Championship took place. After only 3 rounds, no team has a 100% record, proving that this is indeed one of the most fiercely contested tournaments in the world. Let's continue our coverage of the top 4 teams in the round, analyzing the matches of RB Bragantino, Flamengo, Botafogo, and Grêmio.

On Saturday, RB Bragantino and Corinthians faced off at the Nabi Abi Chedid Stadium. Massa Bruta managed to open the score in the 5th minute and maintained their lead throughout the match, benefiting from yet another lackluster performance by Corinthians, who, despite dominating possession for much of the game, failed to convert that dominance into clear goal-scoring opportunities.

At Allianz Parque, Palmeiras hosted Flamengo in a match that delivered less than expected, considering these are two of the top teams in Brazil. The game saw only 4 shots on target (1 for Palmeiras and 3 for Flamengo) and a modest xG (expected goals) of 0.4 for Verdão and 0.24 for the Rubro-Negro.

At Nilton Santos Stadium, Botafogo completely dominated Juventude. In addition to their convincing 5-1 victory, Botafogo scored more than double the expected goals for the match (2.38). However, Botafogo's defense has been one of the weaknesses of the squad, conceding 4 goals so far in the championship and allowing one goal to Juventude, who had less than 0.5 expected goals throughout the match.

At Arena Grêmio, the Tricolor Gaúcho faced Cuiabá and secured a narrow 1-0 victory. Despite the low-scoring affair, the game was highly eventful, with a total of 21 shots. The Dourado, despite not finding the back of the net, had a much higher xG than Grêmio, indicating efficiency in creation but also hinting at inefficiency in attack. Another statistic that highlights this is shot accuracy; Cuiabá attempted 14 shots, but only 3 were on target, while Grêmio had 7 shots, 4 of which were accurate.