Khaya’s picks

Flamengo will be desperate to get their title bid back on track by returning to winning ways against Vitoria today.

The hosts were enjoying a fantastic campaign, but it does feel as though the wheels are coming off.

They had led the Serie A pack for most of the season but now find themselves down in third place, four points behind leaders Sao Paulo, after being hammered 3-0 at Atletico PR over the weekend.

Vitoria come into this game in horrendous form. New boss Paulo César Carpegiani got off to a terrible start in the Leão da Barra dugout at the weekend, losing 3-0 at home to Palmeiras and that result now means Vitoria have taken just one point from the last available 12, conceding a huge 3 goals a game in the process.

With Flamengo having won eight of their 10 home league games so far this season, I predict an easy win for them against Vitoria. Pool Name – S6 V1 P1 M1: Flamengo RJ v Vitoria. Previewed above. TIP: Flamengo win = 1 M2: Atletico Mineiro v Vasco da Gama. Win for Atletico. TIP: Atletico win = 1 M3: Chicago Fire v Columbus Crew. Victory for Chicago. TIP: Chicago win = 1 M4: Houston Dynamo v FC Dallas. Away win for Dallas. TIP: Dallas win = 3 M5: Kashima Antlers v Jubilo Iwata. Antlers to win this one. TIP: Antlers win = 1 M6: Tianjin Quanjian v Guizhou Zhicheng. Tianjin too strong for Zhicheng.

TIP: Tianjin win = 1