There are several ways I can drive my fiancée crazy, and one of those is spending my time trying to predict exactly what will happen in the Serie A each year. These are my big calls for the 2019 season.

In case you are wondering what this is for, its a game I’ve been playing with some Brazilian mates for several years now. The challenge is to predict the scores of all 380 league games in the Serie A, as well as making some bold predictions at the start of each season, and then points are assigned to how accurate your predictions turn out to be. These are my calls for 2019.

Top goalscorers:

Pato (São Paulo)

Fred (Cruzeiro)

Gabigol (Flamengo)

Diego Souza (Botafogo)

Gilberto (Bahia)

Once you make the bet you can’t change it, which means you can’t afford to pick a guy that might back up his bags and move to another league (like Everton, Grêmio’s top player who has been scouted by several top European teams). Another problem is that it isn’t clear who is going to be the main number 9 for several of Brazil’s best teams this year: Grêmio, Palmeiras, Internacional and Santos either have several options up front (and its not clear who is the first choice) or they are not happy with their current options (and they might buy somebody else). If I could resubmit my bids, I would probably add Marco Ruben, Athletico’s new Argentinian striker.

Champions:

Flamengo

Most points:

Flamengo, Cruzeiro, Palmeiras, São Paulo

Lowest points:

Goiás, Avaí­, CSA, Botafogo

Best defence:

Corinthians

Best attack:

Flamengo

Worst defence:

Goiás

Worst attack:

Goiás

Another way I like to spend my time, which also winds up my fiancée, is to play Cartola FC, Brazil’s favourite fantasy football game. If you’re up for the challenge, sign up free and enter the Brazilfooty league and pit your wits against readers of this blog and the friends of Brazilfooty. Once you’ve signed up and created your team, simply go to the ‘Competiçíµes’ page and search for Brazilfooty.

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