It’s the Derby della Mole in Turin as Juventus face Torino at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday afternoon in Serie A, looking to continue their pursuit of the Scudetto.
The Bianconeri started their 19 game unbeaten streak – of which 18 have been victories – with a late winner against Torino, and after being knocked out of the Champions League on Wednesday night, are looking to get quickly back to winning ways.
The Granata on the other hand are facing one of the lowest moments of their recent seasons, having won just twice in 2016, with five losses and five draws. The most recent one is a painful 3-2 defeat in Genoa, after being 0-2 up. Giampiero Ventura is undergoing criticism by fans and media, and needs a win in the Derby to make everyone happy.
The last time the two teams faced each other in Serie A, a 90th minute Juan Cuadrado tap in gave Juve an unexpected win. More recently, the Bianconeri thrashed their cousins 4-0 in the Coppa Italia, both games being played at the Juventus Stadium. The last encounter at the Olimpico ended with Toro’s 2-1 win last season, interrupting a period of 20 years without winning against the rivals, thanks to goals by Fabio Quagliarella and Matteo Darmian.
Both match winners have left Torino since, but Ventura will be confident to deploy a competitive side, trying to make the most of Ciro Immobile’s great form, after scoring two last week. Alessandro Gazzi is out through injury, as well as Danilo Avelar, unavailable for the rest of this season. Otherwise, Ventura has is preferred 3-5-2 formation, with Andrea Belotti the other striker and Marco Benassi likely to start ahead of Daniele Baselli in the middle.
Massimiliano Allegri will still have to deal with the absences of Giorgio Chiellini, Claudio Marchisio and Paulo Dybala, just like in the Champions League. Against Bayern Munich, Alvaro Morata was fantastic, and he is likely to start again, alongside Mario Mandzukic up front. Hernanes is likely to continue replacing Marchisio, whilst Daniele Rugani could have a chance to play at the back.
Form Guide: Torino (D-L-D-W-L) Juventus (W-D-W-W-W)
Expected Starting XIs
Torino (3-5-2): Padelli; Maksimovic, Glik, Moretti; Peres, Acquah, Vives, Benassi, Zappacosta; Belotti, Immobile
Juventus (3-5-2): Buffon; Rugani, Bonucci, Barzagli; Cuadrado, Khedira, Hernanes, Pogba, Alex Sandro; Mandzukic, Morata
