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Atletico Mineiro and Athletico Paranaense will trade tackles at the Estadio Mineiro in the first leg of their Copa do Brasil final on Saturday.
The home side progressed to the final with a convincing 6-1 aggregate victory over Fortaleza in the semifinal two months ago. They have followed that up by winning their first league title in 50 years and also a state title.
Athletico Paranaense secured their spot at the showpiece event with a 5-2 aggregate victory over Flamengo in October.
Both sides will look to register a positive result in the first leg ahead of the return leg just four days later.
Atletico Mineiro come into the game on the back of a 4-3 loss to Gremio on the final day of the league season.
Paranaense settled for a share of the spoils in a 1-1 draw away to Sport Recife on Saturday. Mikael and Khellven scored first-half goals to ensure parity was restored at fulltime.
Atletico Mineiro vs Athletico Paranaense Head-to-Head
Athletico PR won 17 of their last 36 matches against Atletico Mineiro. Four matches ended in a share of the spoils while the home side were victorious on 15 occasions.
Their most recent meeting came a month ago when Federico Zaracho's strike on the stroke of halftime helped Atletico secure a 1-0 away win en-route to win the league.
Atletico Mineiro form guide (all competitions): L-W-W-W-D
Athletico Paranaense form guide (all competitions): D-D-W-L-D
Atletico Mineiro vs Athletico Paranaense Team News
Atletico Mineiro
Orlando Berrio (knee) and Eduardo (broken foot) are both unavailable due to injuries.
Injuries: Eduardo, Orlando Berrio
Suspension: None
Athletico Paranaense
Renato Kayser (ankle), Matheus Babi (ACL) and Lucas Halter (foot) have all been sidelined with injuries.
Injuries: Renato Kayser, Matheus Babi, Lucas Halter
Suspension: None
Atletico Mineiro vs Athletico Paranaense Predicted XI
Atletico Mineiro Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Everson (GK); Guilherme Arana, Junior Alonso, Nathan, Mariano; Tche Tche, Jair; Keno, Nathan, Hulk; Diego Costa
Athletico Parananense Predicted XI (3-4-3): Santos (GK); Nicolas Vachiatto, Thiago Haleno, Pedro Henrique; Abner, Fernando Canesin, Erick, Marcinho; Rocha Neves, Nikao; Guilherme Bissoli
Atletico Mineiro vs Athletico Paranaense Prediction
Atletico Mineiro are flying high at the moment and will still be buoyed by their recent league triumph. The hosts have superior players compared to Paranaense and are favorites to claim a first-leg victory.
Mineiro like to play on the front foot and games involving them tend to be high-scoring affairs owing to their attacking talent. We are backing the Brazilian champions to claim a comfortable victory with goals at both ends.
Prediction: Atletico Mineiro 3-1 Athletico Paranaense
