Flamengo hold one-point lead over Palmeiras in title race
Flamengo sit on 61 points after 29 games, with Palmeiras one behind on 60 and a goal difference gap of 32 against 27.
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One point. That is all that separates Flamengo from Palmeiras at the top of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, and with 29 rounds gone, neither side has room to blink.
Flamengo lead the table on 61 points from 18 wins, 7 draws and 4 defeats. They have scored 57 and conceded 25, the best attacking return in the division and a goal difference of 32. Their recent run reads W, W, W, W and D, a sequence of four straight wins ended by a draw that leaves them on a streak of 1D.
Palmeiras are the harder team to shake. 3 defeats in 29 matches is the fewest in the league, and their 21 goals conceded is a better defensive record than the leaders'. They have won 17 and drawn 9, and their goal difference of 27 is the only place where the gap looks real. Form: D, D, W, D, W.
The split makes the chase stranger still. Both teams have identical home numbers — 10 wins, 3 draws, 1 loss. Everything separating them was built on the road, where Flamengo have taken 8 wins against 7 for Palmeiras.
Below them the race thins out fast. Fluminense sit third on 51, already 1 point further back than the gap at the top multiplied ten times over, with Paranaense on 50 and Cruzeiro on 48. Sixth-placed Bahia have 46.
In the scoring charts, Kevin Viveros of Paranaense leads with 19, ahead of Pedro on 16 and Gabriel Barbosa on 13. José Manuel López, the Palmeiras forward, has 9.
The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A returns on Saturday 10 October, when Vasco da Gama meet Clube do Remo. A single point is the whole margin. Ask yourself how many times this season that has looked comfortable.