Having both been eliminated from the cup in midweek, mid-table rivals Torino and Hellas Verona convene on Sunday evening with three valuable points at stake.
With the clubs separated by just a point in the Serie A standings, the hosts' coach Ivan Juric will meet up with some familiar faces as his former team come to town.
Match preview
© Reuters
While Torino have certainly become a more resilient proposition under coach Ivan Juric, who led Verona with such distinction over the past few years, they remain mired in mid-table obscurity because of a lack of consistency so far this season.
Last weekend, the Granata were the dominant side against Bologna, and could have won by a more comfortable margin than their 2-1 victory would suggest, as they moved into 13th in the table.
That deserved three points came after a pair of disappointing draws against promoted Empoli and struggling Cagliari, and was then followed by Thursday's Coppa Italia exit to Sampdoria. Having made several changes to the league XI, Juric saw his much-altered side beaten 2-1 at the Marassi, so they will now have to focus solely on Serie A concerns.
Il Toro are certainly in fine form on home soil ahead of the visit of Verona, and a record of four wins from their last five at their Turin headquarters - each time scoring at least twice - stands them in good stead for their next challenge.
Standing out for their vastly improved defensive work this term, with 18 goals being conceded in 17 games, Torino can also hope to resist the free-scoring Gialloblu attack.
© Reuters
Verona may have added another three goals, in midweek, to a growing tally since Igor Tudor took charge early in the current campaign, but they were still knocked out of the Coppa Italia by losing 4-3 at home to Empoli in their second-round tie.
Young prospects Matteo Cancellieri and Ivan Ilic - a Manchester City academy graduate, introduced to the first team by Ivan Juric last year - were on target at Stadio Bentegodi, but they nonetheless crashed out before the last-16 stage.
It was a second setback in the space of a week for the Scaligeri, who had lost at the same venue to Napoli last weekend, when they took the lead through in-form striker Giovanni Simeone but were pulled back to 1-1 before the break. Teun Koopmeiners then struck with a deflected shot which ultimately consigned them to a first defeat in seven home games.
That loss sees Verona slip back into the bottom half of the standings, as the season's halfway point approaches, and they do not tend to fare anywhere near as well on their travels.
Having won just one away fixture so far, Tudor's team have conceded - and also scored - in each of their last seven road trips, in a series of entertaining encounters which have averaged over four goals per game.
They do, though, remain unbeaten against Torino in the clubs' last eight Serie A meetings, but seven of those contests have ended up with spoils shared equally. A similar result on Sunday would set the Gialloblu up nicely for their final fixture of 2021 next week, when they welcome Fiorentina to the Bentegodi.
- L
- W
- L
- D
- D
- W
- W
- L
- D
- D
- W
- L
- D
- W
- L
- D
- W
- L
- W
- L
- D
- W
- L
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Amid much speculation about the Brazilian defender's future, Torino are waiting for updated medical reports on Bremer to decide if he will recover from a calf problem in time to start at centre-back in Ivan Juric's 3-4-2-1 formation.
Alessandro Buongiorno will most likely deputise if not, while star striker Andrea Belotti is also a major doubt for the home side, and Kofi Djidji, Simone Edera and Simone Verdi are all sidelined too.
After being rested during the cup defeat, goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, wing-back Wilfried Singo and Swiss international Ricardo Rodriguez are among those expected to return to the starting side.
Meanwhile, Verona are also poised to revert to a similar lineup to that which was edged out by Atalanta last Sunday, following a substantial turnover in Igor Tudor's playing resources in midweek.
Centre-back Pawel Dawidowicz recently underwent surgery after rupturing his cruciate ligament and will now be out for the rest of the season, and Nikola Kalinic (calf) is not expected to return to the squad until January.
That means that Giovanni Simeone should start up front, with Gianluca Caprari and Antonin Barak most probably providing support for the visitors' 12-goal top scorer.
Torino possible starting lineup:
Milinkovic; Zima, Bremer, Rodriguez; Singo, Lukic, Pobega, Vojvoda; Praet, Pjaca; Sanabria
Hellas Verona possible starting lineup:
Montipo; Casale, Ceccherini, Magnani; Faraoni, Tameze, Veloso, Lazovic; Barak, Caprari; Simeone
We say: Torino 1-1 Hellas Verona
There is little to choose between these two sides this term, and a ninth draw from 10 top-flight meetings could be on the cards this weekend.
While Belotti's absence will be a blow, Torino have coped well enough without their attacking talisman on several recent occasions, and have proven their ability to keep the back door shut - which could restrict Verona to no more than a single goal.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Torino win with a probability of 44.66%. A win for Hellas Verona had a probability of 29.94% and a draw had a probability of 25.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Torino win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.11%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.12%) and 2-0 (7.65%). The likeliest Hellas Verona win was 0-1 (7.97%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.05%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 10.1% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Torino in this match.
