Having both lost last weekend, Torino and Sassuolo meet in Serie A's Saturday evening kickoff at Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino, with an instant response in mind.
The hosts were pipped at the post by Inter to suffer a second defeat of the season, while their visitors were also beaten late on; extending a winless streak to four.
Match preview
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Perhaps not surprisingly, considering their continued improvement, Torino's most recent outing saw them push last term's Serie A runners-up all the way at San Siro - though the game was not to have a kind conclusion.
Despite testing Inter captain Samir Handanovic several times over the course of 90 minutes - particularly via summer signing Nikola Vlasic - the Granata were unable to break through, and they were ultimately undone by an inspired combination between the hosts' Nicolo Barella and Marcelo Brozovic with stoppage time looming.
Their second loss of the season - with the other coming to in-form Atalanta at the start of the month - leaves Torino ninth in the standings, locked on 10 points with city rivals Juventus after six rounds.
Head coach Ivan Juric, who has recently been away from the touchline due to illness, has evolved the ailing side he inherited last year into one that is far tougher to beat, and Il Toro have not conceded a goal in either of their last two home games.
Now set to face a side struggling to find form in the final third, Torino also have the edge over Saturday's opponents when it comes to past results: the Granata have lost only three of their 18 Serie A matches against Sassuolo; scoring in each of the teams' last 11 meetings.
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Though they have so often suffered at the hands of Torino, Sassuolo managed to salvage a draw from the clubs' last encounter in Turin, at the start of the year.
On that occasion, the now-departed Giacomo Raspadori scored a late equaliser for the Neroverdi, but since the summertime break-up of the front line he played such a big part in, goals have been far harder to come by.
Alessio Dionisi's side have just one goal and two points to show from their last three games, following a 3-1 home defeat to Udinese last Sunday. Though they took the lead through Davide Frattesi, Ruan Tressoldi's dismissal just before the break reduced them to 10 men, and they finally crumbled in the last 15 minutes.
Sassuolo have now failed to find a win from their last four fixtures all told, representing the club's worst winless streak in Serie A since the start of 2021.
Indeed, the Emilians' only victory of the 2022-23 campaign came against promoted Lecce - and they also exited the Coppa Italia to Serie B opponents at the first round stage - so Dionisi is under pressure to produce a positive result before the international break.
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Team News
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As only Aleksei Miranchuk and Samuele Ricci are expected to be ruled out by injury for Torino, Ivan Juric has a series of selection issues to resolve this weekend - particularly on the flanks of his favoured 3-4-2-1 formation.
Wilfried Singo and Ola Aina will both hope to be recalled, but Valentino Lazaro and Mergim Vojvoda are currently in possession of the wing-back roles.
Starting up front, Antonio Sanabria made his Serie A debut for Sassuolo in the 2013-14 season; playing only twice for the Neroverdi. Against his former club, the Paraguayan centre-forward has since recorded two goals and an assist in five top-flight appearances, including the opener in January's 1-1 draw.
Meanwhile, after losing two talented strikers in the transfer market, Sassuolo have also endured terrible luck with injuries up front this term, and Domenico Berardi's participation on Saturday remains in doubt due to a thigh problem.
Fellow forwards Hamed Traore and Gregoire Defrel are sidelined too, while centre-back Ruan Tressoldi must serve a suspension for his sending-off against Udinese.
In the absence of an attacking threat, as loan signing Andrea Pinamonti is yet to fire, Davide Frattesi has scored half of the visitors' meagre goal tally in Serie A this season (two out of four). The Italy midfielder should join Maxime Lopez and Kristian Thorstvedt in a central trio, as part of the visitors' 4-3-3 setup.
Torino possible starting lineup:
Milinkovic-Savic; Schuurs, Buongiorno, Rodriguez; Lazaro, Lukic, Linetty, Vojvoda; Vlasic, Radonjic; Sanabria
Sassuolo possible starting lineup:
Consigli; Toljan, Ayhan, Ferrari, Rogerio; Frattesi, Lopez, Thorstvedt; Lauriente, Pinamonti, Kyriakopoulos
We say: Torino 1-0 Sassuolo
Torino tend to keep things tight at the back, and were within minutes of keeping Inter goalless last weekend; therefore, shutting out a struggling Sassuolo attack is within their capabilities - and they should score at least once themselves.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
