Torino will host Sampdoria in Serie A at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin on Sunday afternoon in Serie A.
Giampiero Ventura’s squad are in high spirits after their surprising 1-0 win against Inter last Sunday. The Granata are currently in 12th place with Sassuolo on 25 points and they have been unbeaten in their last seven games.
Sampdoria had a fortunate 1-1 draw with Palermo in the previous round but they remain equal fourth with Lazio on 34 points and in the hunt for a spot in Europe next season.
Il Doria president Massimo Ferrero has been strengthening his club’s roster during the winter transfer window, signing players such as Luis Muriel and Andrea Coda from Udinese, Argentine prodigy Joaquin Correa from Estudiantes de La Plata and Cameroonian great Samuel Eto’o from English club Everton.
Eto’o started training with Sampdoria this week and he is expected to start for Sinisa Mihajlovic’s side on Sunday. Torino have not been anywhere as active on the transfer market as the Doriani but Ventura’s side has bought Argentine striker Maxi Lopez from Chievo.
Lopez will be playing against the club he played for in 2012-13 as well as in the second half of the 2013-14 campaign. The former Samp striker has proven to be an effective super-sub in the Granata’s last two wins by scoring the winner against Cesena and assisting the winner against Inter.
Sampdoria emerged triumphant in Week 2 when they defeated Toro 2-0 thanks to goals from Manolo Gabbiadini and Stefano Okaka. Gabbiadini has left for Napoli but Torino’s defence will face a new nemesis in Eto’o, a striker who will be eager to show that he still is a match-winner.
Both coaches will have squads that are close to full strength except for Mihajlovic, who won’t have Muriel at his disposal until February.
Form Guide: Torino (D-W-D-D-W-W) Sampdoria (D-D-L-W-W-D)
Expected Starting XIs
Torino: Padelli; Bovo, Glik, Moretti; Darmian, Benassi, Gazzi, Farnerud, Molinaro; Quagliarella, Maxi Lopez
Sampdoria: Viviano; De Silvestri, Silvestre, Regini; Duncan, Palombo, Obiang; Soriano; Eto’o, Eder
