Dominating Turin derbies and title challenges in Serie A are often expected at Juventus but the upcoming Derby della Mole on Saturday night might be the toughest they have faced in years.
Although Torino have only won the derby once since 1995, they have commenced the 2017-18 campaign in fine form by winning three and drawing two of their first five league matches and they are just four points behind their neighbours in the table.
The Granata go into the derby on the back of a 3-2 victory away to Udinese on Wednesday evening, a result which pleased coach Sinisa Mihajlovic as his side went up to fifth in Serie A.
“We will enjoy this victory and this beautiful classification ahead of the derby,” he told RAI Sport. “We had to improve our form away from home and we are doing it.
“It was a very important match, getting the points we needed to climb up the table but it also helps us to prepare ourselves against Juve in the best way.”
One of the keys to Torino’s impressive start to the season is Mihajlovic’s change in formation. He predominantly used the 4-3-3 in 2016-17 but he switched the 4-2-3-1 towards the end of the campaign.
Captain Marco Benassi had trouble adapting to the system change and he was sold to Fiorentina before the start to the 2017-18 season while Serbian international Adem Ljajic has thrived thanks to the switch.
Mihajlovic positions Ljajic in the trequartista role and operating more centrally has allowed the 25-year-old to play his natural game as opposed to being stuck on a wing. This has been beneficial for the individual and the team with the Serbian forward scoring three goals and providing three assists in five games.
There were issues between the posts last season due to English goalkeeper Joe Hart making countless calamitous errors but Salvatore Sirigu has been far more reliable since he arrived in the summer from French giants Paris Saint-Germain.
In midfield Daniele Baselli is performing admirably as a deep-lying playmaker while former Juventus player Tomas Rincon has held down the defensive midfielder’s role since switching allegiances to Toro.
One of the biggest sagas of the summer was the speculation surrounding the future of Italian international Andrea Belotti but Torino managed to hold onto him successfully.
Belotti has scored three goals in five games, which seems paltry compared the starts other strikers have had, but Torino do not look overly dependent on him for goals and he did force Udinese midfielder Emil Hallfredsson into scoring an own goal on Wednesday.
AC Milan were keen to acquire Il Gallo and they wanted M’Baye Niang involved in the deal. Although the Rossoneri did not purchase Belotti, Niang did move to the Granata and the French winger has added some pace and directness to Toro’s play, also providing two assists.
Mihajlovic has created a more competitive Torino side in his second season at the club and they are yet to lose a match this season. While they are playing with greater confidence, rivals Juventus battled with Fiorentina for a scrappy 1-0 victory on Wednesday night.
With this in mind, the Granata should not be timid like they have been in other derbies.
