Torino host Russian league leaders Zenit St Petersburg at the Stadio Olimpico di Torino on Thursday night in the second leg of the round of 16 Europa League tie.
The first leg, which was played at the Petrovsky Stadium, was pretty evenly poised until Granata midfielder Marco Benassi was sent off around the half hour mark- following which goals from Alex Witsel and Domenico Criscito gave the home side a decisive 2-0 advantage.
Now, the Italians welcome the Russian side to Turin, where they have an outstanding record in European competitions, having not tasted defeat since 1993, winning seven matches and drawing three.
The visitors have been highly impressive in their Europa League campaign so far, as they have won all their three games and are yet to concede, since dropping into the competition from the Champions League.
That said, Zenit have not progressed beyond the Round of 16 in European competition since winning the Europa League trophy in 2008.
Looking at recent form as well, Giampiero Ventura’s men saw their impressive nine game unbeaten run in all competitions ended by a 3-2 away defeat at the hands of Udinese two weeks back, and since then the Italians have lost consecutive games to Zenit and Lazio without getting on the scoresheet, thus seeing their winless streak sit at three games.
Meanwhile, Andre Villas-Boas’s men now sit at the top of the Russian league on 45 points, five points clear of second place CSKA Moscow. Moreover, Zenit are yet to lose a competitive fixture this year and are on a five game unbeaten run in all competitions.
Perhaps one of the only concerns for the former Chelsea boss would be his side’s record in Italy that reads one win, one draw and two losses, coming at the hands of Juventus and Udinese.
The visitors will miss out on the services of midfielder Javi Garcia due to suspension, while Andrey Arshavin, Viktor Fayzulin, Aleksandr Kerzhakov have all been ruled out with injuries. Also, star player Hulk and goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev have been declared doubtful for this fixture.
For the home side, Benassi is suspended following his red card in Russia and left-back Salvatore Masiello is nursing a thigh injury.
Form Guide: Torino (W-W-L-L-L) Zenit (W-W-W-W-D)
Expected Starting XIs
Zenit: Lodygin; Smolnikov, Neto, Garay, Criscito; Ryazantsev, Witsel; Danny, Shatov, Hulk; Rondon.
Torino: Padelli; Bovo, Glik, Moretti; Molinaro, Gazzi, Farnerud, El Kaddouri, Darmian; Quagliarella, Lopez.
