Possibly a nil thread but I figured that if OTF can sustain a Romanian League thread we should be able to drum up a few posts for the Brazilian Championship. Maybe Ursus or Sam will rescue me...

Anyway, it starts tomorrow and here's my predictions (though I'm fairly sure it'll be less accurate than my 2008-9 EPL top 4 forecast).

4th Cruzeiro

Last year's free scoring (73 goals) and attractive team fell away towards the end and will have been disappointed to have finished fifth. They've started impressively and their Libertadores exit to Boca will mean no early distractions.

Key players: Guilherme, Wagner, Marcelo Moreno

3rd São Paulo

Champions for the last two seasons, their conveyor belt of young talent keeps on rolling and they'll be in contention even if they bore Brazil stupid in doing so. There could be a bit of an exodus in the summer as Hernanes, Alex Silva and Miranda attract European attention. With only 19 goals conceded last year - less than half the next best defence - it's easy to see where their strength lies but Breno has been sold to Bayern and they've looked less than convincing in both the Paulista and the Libertadores so far. They're always likely to snatch a goal from a set piece or a header from one of their tall defenders. And Adriano seems to be starting to strike a balance between enjoying himself off the field and performing on it.

Key players: Hernanes, Adriano, Alex Silva

2nd Fluminense

Manager Renato Gaúcho is a shrewd operator and the Tricolor had the best qualifying record in the Libertadores group stages. His close season signings have added real attacking power to a strong defence. The only setback has been the loss of Leandro Amaral back to Vasco after a contractual dispute. If they can hold on to defender Thiago Silva and attacking midfielder Thiago Neves and get off to a good start without being distracted by the Libertadores they can improve on last year's third place.

Key players: Thiago Neves, Thiago Silva, Washington

Champions Palmeiras

With Wanderlei Luxemburgo in charge, the Paulista already under their belts and no Libertadores distractions, this could be Palmeiras' year. The Chilean Valdívia is currently the hottest player in Brazil and there's plenty more attacking flair with Kléber and Alex Mineiro. They've invested heavily in the squad and, despite crashing out of the Copa Brasil to Sport Recife, they look a formidable team - if their backers don't decide to cash in on their main assets this summer.

Key players: Valdívia, Kléber, Pierre

Of course any team's prospects can be fatally undermined by the peculiarly Brazilian combination of top players leaving half way through the season, managerial instability, off-field distractions (think Ronaldo here), appalling refereeing and outright bribery and corruption but the uncertainty of it all makes it infinitely more entertaining for me than the predictable Premier League.

One more not particularly bold prediction - Serie B to be won by Corinthians. They've also got a decent shot at the Copa Brasil.