On Sunday afternoon Udinese travel to the Stadio Olimpico to take on Torino with the Zebrette looking to continue their excellent start to the season despite being held to a disappointing draw in Udine last time out by newly promoted Cesena.
However, with the Granata yet to win at home this term they will be equally determined to recapture last season’s form and will take heart from the spirited performance against Napoli even if ultimately ending in defeat.
Last season Torino were 2-0 victors home and away and would love a repeat of those performances, but Ciro Immobile, the man who effectively ended those matches as contests with crucial second goals, has departed for Borussia Dortmund.
The Granta have recently been reliant on the goals of summer signing Fabio Quagliarella and the same is expected this weekend with little signs of attacking intent elsewhere.
Since returning to Serie A in 2012 Torino have just shaded recent encounters with those two victories, however, before that Torino were very much welcome opposition for the Bianconeri, winning six times in the previous 12 fixtures when the hosts were often fighting relegation.
Andrea Stramaccioni’s side will start the match as favourites, even after surprisingly being held by Cesena, after a run of three straight wins see them in the heady heights of fourth position while all-time leading scorer Antonio Di Natale showing no signs of slowing down despite recently turning 37.
The return of goalkeeper Jean-Francois Gillet to Giampiero Ventura’s side, and the form shown in those appearances, suggests they could be turning their form around with a narrow victory at Cagliari followed by an important point versus Fiorentina and almost taking equalling that feat in Naples.
However, while the signs of improvement are there the reliance on Quagliarella is a concern with centre-back Kamil Gilk the only other player registering a Serie A goal so far and could be what separates the two on the day with the Zebrette already approaching double figures.
With Migien Basha and Antonio Nocerino not set to return for Torino for another three weeks the midfield will remain weaker through their absence, however, Alexander Farnerud, who opened the scoring in Udine last season, could return but a place on the bench is probably the best he can aim for.
In contrast, although Udinese will be without striker Luis Muriel they should be able to cope without the spritely Colombian, but midfielder Panagiotis Kone would be a welcome option should he be deemed fit enough for selection.
Expected Starting XIs
Torino (4-5-2): Gillet; Maksimovic, Jansson, Moretti; Peres, Gazzi, Vives, Sanchez Mino, Darmian; Amauri, Quagliarella
Udinese (4-3-3): Karnezis; Widmer, Heurtaux, Danilo, Piris; Badu, Allan, Guilherme; Fernandes, Thereau, Di Natale
