Sports Mole previews Saturday’s Serie A clash between Juventus and Torino, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Aiming to continue their long dominance of the Turin derby, Italian giants Juventus will host neighbours Torino on Saturday evening.
Continuing a rivalry that began back in 1929, Juve are unbeaten in 20 Serie A meetings with Toro – and they come into this season’s first Derby della Mole under new management.
Match preview
After eight games without a win across all competitions, Italy’s most successful club finally called upon Luciano Spalletti, who was recently handed an initial contract until the end of the season.
The former Napoli coach took charge of Juventus for last week’s Serie A clash with Cremonese, when goals from wing-backs Filip Kostic and Andrea Cambiaso secured a 2-1 away win.
Victory kept Juve in touch with the top four, but they soon had to switch focus, having made a slow start to their latest continental campaign.
With just two points on the board from three Champions League matches, there was a familiar sinking feeling for fans of the Bianconeri when their side conceded an early goal to Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday.
Yet, revived striker Dusan Vlahovic hauled them level before the break – and he also tested Sporting goalkeeper Rui Silva twice – though Juventus ultimately failed to find a winner.
They may have won just two of their last 11 fixtures, but Juve are still tough to beat on home turf: they have lost only one of their last 31 league games at the Allianz Stadium, keeping 17 clean sheets in the process.
So, Spalletti has some proud traditions to defend in his first Derby della Mole, having already managed in both the Rome and Milan city derbies.
Such has been their inferiority in recent years, Torino’s last success away to Juventus dates back to April 1995: of 21 subsequent away derbies, they have lost 16.
Current boss Marco Baroni once worked in Juve’s Primavera, winning two trophies for the Bianconeri at youth level, but he must now try to pull off an incredibly rare feat for the Granata.
Baroni’s team are at least in solid form ahead of Saturday’s showdown, going unbeaten in five league matches since the end of September.
After picking up eight points from four games, Torino had slowly climbed up the table before hosting winless Pisa last weekend.
Although they bravely battled back from behind – thanks to strikes by Che Adams and Giovanni Simeone – Toro still spurned the chance to secure victory at home to newly promoted opponents.
Including those two against Pisa, 11 of a league-high 16 goals conceded have come during the first half, so Baroni will be keen to avoid another slow start in the derby.
Juventus Serie A form:
D D L L W W
Juventus form (all competitions):
L L L W W D
Torino Serie A form:
L D W W D D
Team News
An advocate of 4-3-3, Spalletti has instead continued with a three-man defence since taking the reins at Juventus – albeit a more fluid version featuring versatile midfielder Teun Koopmeiners.
After making a relatively successful start, that shape should be retained this weekend, with Koopmeiners standing in for Lloyd Kelly if the latter is not passed fit.
Defensive duo Bremer and Juan Cabal are certainly sidelined by injury, while Vlahovic must overcome a minor flexor problem to keep his place ahead of Lois Openda and Jonathan David.
Meanwhile, Torino’s main threat surely comes from four-goal top scorer Simeone, who has previously found the net six times against Juventus in Serie A.
Marcus Pedersen has already resumed training after recovering from a fever, but Zakaria Aboukhlal is still struggling with a muscular injury.
First-choice goalkeeper Franco Israel remains a doubt after missing Toro’s last three matches, so Alberto Paleari could deputise again; in better news for Baroni, left wing-back Niels Nkounkou should be back in action.
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Di Gregorio; Kalulu, Gatti, Koopmeiners; Cambiaso, Thuram, Locatelli, Kostic; McKennie, Yildiz; Vlahovic
Torino possible starting lineup:
Paleari; Ismajli, Maripan, Coco; Pedersen, Casadei, Asllani, Vlasic, Nkounkou; Adams, Simeone
We say: Juventus 2-1 Torino
Keen to impress their new coach, Juventus have brightened up in the past week, following a very disjointed start to the season.
That revival could prove ill-timed for Torino, who have won just one of their last 10 away games while failing to score in half, not to mention their grim record in the Derby della Mole.
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