The 156th Derby della Mole in Serie A between eternal rivals Juventus and Torino that takes place on Tuesday night will drop the curtain on Gameweek 24. After a narrow 1-0 win in the reverse fixture, the Bianconeri are looking to complete their first league double over fierce cross-town rivals since 2019/20.
Despite January’s 15-point deduction and a topsy-turvy league form at the start of the year (W1, D1, L2), Juventus will take the field in high spirits. In addition to winning their last three outings in Serie A by an aggregate score of 6-0 and reaching the Coppa Italia semi-finals, Massimiliano Allegri’s side found an alternate route in next season’s Champions League.
After an underwhelming 1-1 first-leg draw in Turin, Juventus thumped Nantes 3-0 in the return fixture of their Europa League knockout playoff tie last Thursday. Angel Di Maria stole the spotlight at the Stade de la Beaujoire, netting a hat-trick, including a Puskas Award nominee to break the deadlock. Even though they lag 12 points behind fourth-placed Roma ahead of the kick-off, the Bianconeri have plenty of reason for optimism.
By contrast, Torino’s hopes of reigniting their pursuit of European placings took another hit last Monday as they shared the spoils with rock-bottom Cremonese at home. Despite grabbing a halftime lead through Antonio Sanabria, Ivan Juric’s underachievers slipped to a dismal 2-2 draw, falling ten points behind sixth-placed Atalanta.
Having won just one of their last four league games (D2, L1), the Granata look like a doomed outfit against a Juventus side they’ve failed to beat in 17 consecutive meetings in all competitions (D4, L13). Adding to this sentiment, you’d need to look back to 1995 for Torino’s last victory at the Bianconeri’s home ground in Serie A (D5, L11 since).
Preview
Juventus
Juventus have blown hot and cold in their last three Serie A matches on home turf (W1, D1, L1), having won five previous league outings at the Allianz Stadium beforehand without conceding. Conceding first could continue their patchy form in Turin, with Allegri’s team going winless in all three home league games after falling behind this term (D2, L1).
Indeed, Allegri prefers cagey contests. Only Barcelona (16) have racked up more wins ‘to nil’ than Juventus (14) in Europe’s top-five leagues this season, highlighting the importance of their defensive performance. It’s also worth noting that 11 of their last 14 wins in Serie A have yielded a clean sheet.
Player to Watch: Dusan Vlahovic
Dusan Vlahovic scored the only goal in the reverse fixture and could become only the fourth Juventus player to find the net in both seasonal Serie A games against Torino in a three-points-per-win era.
Torino
Torino suffered a 1-0 defeat at Milan on their most recent Serie A travel but haven’t lost back-to-back away league matches since going down four times in a row in November. Despite drawing a blank at the Stadio San Siro last time out, the Granata will be confident about returning to the scoresheet, having netted on seven previous top-flight trips beforehand.
Interestingly, Juric’s men have established themselves as ‘stalemate specialists’ in 2023, drawing a league joint-high five games since the turn of the year. Considering they’ve lost twice on their last two Serie A visits to Juventus (D1), there’s no doubt Torino wouldn’t mind sharing the spoils, even though it’d derail their chances of catching Atalanta.
Player to Watch: Antonio Sanabria
Sanabria’s goal against Cremonese was his fifth in Serie A this season, with the Paraguayan striker leading the scoring charts at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino. On top of that, he’s the only player in the current Torino squad to have netted against Juventus in Serie A.
Team News
Allegri’s injury ever-growing list cannot inspire much confidence in the home camp. Juventus will be without Paul Pogba, Arkadiusz Milik, Fabio Miretti, and Federico Chiesa.
But Torino’s treatment room contains numerous first-team regulars, including Valentino Lazaro, Nikola Vlasic, David Zima, Samuele Ricci, and Pietro Pellegri.
Juventus vs Torino Potential Lineups
Juventus (3-4-1-1): Wojciech Szczesny; Danilo, Gleison Bremer, Alex Sandro; Juan Cuadrado, Nicolo Fagioli, Leandro Paredes, Adrien Rabiot, Filip Kostic; Angel Di Maria; Dusan Vlahovic.
Torino (3-4-2-1): Vanja Milinkovic-Savic; Koffi Djidji, Perr Schuurs, Alessandro Buongiorno; Wilfried Singo, Ivan Ilic, Adopo, Mergim Vojvoda; Aleksei Miranchuk, Nemanja Radonjic; Antonio Sanabria.
Juventus vs Torino Prediction
Much more than just the bragging rights will be at stake in Tuesday’s encounter. Both teams desperately need points to close the distance on European placings, but there’s a feeling Juventus are in far better shape to win the derby.
Prediction: Juventus Win
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