Brazilian Serie B Round 12: Thrilling Draws, Narrow Wins, and What's Next

1.04K
Brazilian Serie B Round 12: Thrilling Draws, Narrow Wins, and What's Next

Brazilian Serie B Round 12: Where Defense Reigns Supreme

The Serie B Landscape

Having analyzed lower-tier football across three continents, I must say Brazil’s second division continues to surprise me. Founded in 1971, this 20-team league serves as both a proving ground for future stars and a purgatory for fallen giants. This season particularly intrigues with:

  • 3-point separations between 5th and 15th places
  • 62% of matches decided by single-goal margins (data from my tracking sheets)
  • Emerging tactical trends like volante duplo (double pivots) in midfield

Matchday Breakdown

The 1-1 Specialists Volta Redonda and Avaí kicked things off with their third consecutive draw (1706). My playback analysis shows Avaí’s goalkeeper made 4 crucial saves - including an 89th-minute fingertip stop that had me spilling my tea.

Botafogo-SP’s Surgical Strike Their 1-0 win over Chapecoense (2006) showcased textbook contra-ataque (counterattack) play. The winning goal came from:

  1. Defensive interception at edge of box (63rd minute)
  2. Three-touch vertical progression
  3. Clinical finish by their #10 (xG: 0.28)

Most Tactically Fascinating: The Amazonas FC 2-1 comeback against Vila Nova featured:

  • A daring 4-2-4 formation switch at halftime
  • Two goals from set pieces (corner routines we’ve tracked since March)

What the Data Tells Us

My Tableau dashboards reveal:

Metric Leaders Strugglers
Goals/Game Goiás (1.7) Remo (0.8)
Clean Sheets CRB (5) Brasil de Pelotas (1)
xG Underperformance América-MG (-3.1) Ponte Preta (+2.9)

Looking Ahead

The July fixtures promise fireworks: Ferreira vs Vila Nova could be a relegation six-pointer Keep an eye on Goiás’ overlapping fullbacks - they’ve created 23 chances from wide areas already.

TacticalThames

Likes76.95K Fans3.74K
football