Juventus will host Torino in the latest edition of the Turin Derby, as Thiago Motta aims to get closer to the top order in the Serie A standings.
Thiago Motta will reflect on the indifferent form his team has been in the past few weeks, and will hope they spring to life ahead of a crucial period ahead. Tuesday night’s fightback in the UEFA Champions League would have given the Juventus boss some inspiration, but he might have wanted to his team to collect all three points as he gets set to welcome Torino.
Juventus faced giant-killers LOSC Lille away from home, and much to everyone’s expectations Jonathan David put the home side ahead. The Bianconeri had to rely on a Dusan Vlahovic penalty to salvage a point, with Motta eager to see more of the fight from his players, and will want a win at the weekend.
Last weekend, Juventus ended their run of consecutive Serie A draws with a comfortable win over Udinese. Despite that, they are still languishing in sixth place, although they did close the gap on leaders Napoli to about four points. The tight race for the Scudetto is getting intense with each passing week, as Motta will want to see his side among those fighting for the title rather than watch as outsiders.
The Turin derby brings the best out of Torino, and they showed it the last time the two teams met for a goalless draw. That was the first time Juventus have failed to beat their neibhours since 2022, as Paolo Vanoli will hope for a similar display on Saturday.
Vanoli will seriously hope for a sharp upturn in their form, as Torino come into this clash at the back of five defeats in the last six games in the league. This dreadful run began with a Coppa Italia exit at the hands of Empoli, and for this alone the fans have criticised the manager in a big way.
Torino find themselves firmly in mid-table range as they sit in tenth spot, as Vanoli will want to see some form of encouragement. Hence, it is not overly cautious to think that they will even fight for a draw rather than thinking about the win, which might hand Juventus the upperhand to inflict more damage on their neibhours.
Team News & Tactics
Juventus
Thiago Motta could make some changes to his lineup from midweek as Timothy Weah, Weston McKennie, and Nicolo Savona are all making their push for inclusions. Apart from long-term absentee Gleison Bremer, Nico Gonzalez and Arkadiusz Milik are the other absentees in the squad.
Motta will have Danilo back in contention after he served a European ban, so he could come straight into the backline. However, the Juvenuts manager could still opt to keep the Brazilian on the bench against Torino as he could persist with a central defensive pairing of Pierre Kalulu and Federico Gatti.
Savona might come in at right-back, with Andrea Cambiaso playing on the other flank. Douglas Luiz could be in contention for a midfield role after returning from an injury earlier this week, although the manager might stay cautious with the Brazilian ahead of the crunch period ahead.
Manuel Locatelli and Weston McKennie could support the likes of Teun Koopmeiners, Kenan Yildiz and Francisco Conceicao in the front line. The in-demand Dusan Vlahovic remains the leading man in front of goal for Juventus ahead of the game against Torino.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Di Gregorio; Savona, Gatti, Kalulu, Cambiaso; McKennie, Locatelli; Conceicao, Koopmeiners, Yildiz; Vlahovic
Torino
Torino are missing some players with long-term problems against Juventus, with Duvan Zapata and Perr Schuurs on the sidelines. There are further absentees like Emirhan Ilkhan and Zanos Savva. However, Torino are sweating on te fitness of striker Che Adams, as a late assesement will determine if he can play on Saturday.
Hence, the Torino boss could pair Nikola Vlasic alongside Antonio Sanabria in the front tew positions. Karol Linetty and Samuele Ricci are the main men in midfield for the visitors, with Ivan Ilic joinig the duo there.
It is a tried and tested setup for Paolo Vanoli, as a back three of Saul Coco, Guillermo Maripan, and Adam Masina are pencilled in to start in that back three. Vanoli will also hope he can call Che Adams from the bench at some stage, that will give him some attacking depth, or else he would rely on Alieu Njie for solutions as well.
Probable Lineup (3-5-2): Milinkovic-Savic; coco, Maripan, Masina; Pederson, Ricci, Linetty, Ilic, Lazaro; Vlasic, Sanabria
Key Stats
- Juventus have won 12 of their last 15 home matches against Torino in all competitions.
- Juventus are undefeated in their last 19 matches in Serie A.
- Juventus have kept 12 clean sheets during this run of 19 games in Serie A.
- Torino have lost five of their last six matches in Serie A.
Player to Watch
Kenan Yildiz
The young Turkish prospect is steadily becoming the main man on the left side of the attack for Juventus, and he needs to maintain his good for. He did continue his flair display there with an assist against Udinese, and Thiago Motta will want to see more productivity from the 19-year-old heading into the crunch period.
The problem with Juventus is that they do not have a real threat down that side of the pitch, and Yildiz finds himself in a brilliant spot to stake a claim for the long term future. He has to put in better performances and improve his numbers from that attacking role, and it does appear the Juventus wonderkid has the tools to do so, and a goal in the derby against Torino will more than boost his confidence.
Prediction
Juventus 3-0 Torino
Torino are in a dreadful run of form with five defeates in their last six Serie A games, and heading into the local derby against Juventus, they will always be underdogs with the curcumstances. The Bianconeri are not in an invincible vein of form, but enough to put their neibhours to the sword.
With home comforts to rely upon, Thiago Motta will want his side to put on a show for the fans, and crush Torino here. Juventus are the clear favourites to take three points emphatically as well as keep a clean sheet in the process.
