I think many gamblers thought exactly that and ended not betting on Botafogo this season. I hope this time Botafogo doesn't disappoint the fans and win the third trophy of its history in Brasileirão. From last year until now lots of changes were made in Botafogo. The club was completely reformulated.
Palmeiras is still the favorite and has a very qualified team, but as you said, someone has to manage overcoming their leadership sooner or later. Botafogo showed it's possible last Wednesday. Now they have to maintain the position. I suppose it's the hardest part of the championship, since they feel a lot of pressure on their shoulders for being the leader, with only one goal average as advantage over the second place.
Even though I root for Corinthians (who have no chance of winning the title), I'd prefer Botafogo to win this year, rather than Palmeiras and Flamengo, both of whom have won a lot of championships recently.
Let other teams to win as well
Botafogo need this title to forget last year which was the most unbelievable title they managed to lose hehe
I think that the parallel championships (Copa do Brasil, Libertadores and Sul Americana) have a big impact on the performance of some teams in the Brazilian championship. Usually when the other championships end or the team is eliminated, they can focus entirely on the Brazilian championship and can get more wins in the final matches