Riding the crest of a wave following their cup heroics in midweek, Torino seek a first Serie A success of the new year when they meet Spezia on Sunday.
While Toro eliminated Milan from the Coppa Italia on Wednesday, they have picked up just two points since returning from the winter break; their visitors lie just outside the relegation zone after a goalless draw with Lecce last time out.
Match preview
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Defying all the odds, Torino sealed their place in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals earlier this week, as they overcame going down to 10 men against the Scudetto-holders to triumph on a memorable night for the club at San Siro.
When French defender Kofi Djidji received his marching orders with 20 minutes left to play, the Granata's chances of progressing seemed slim, but they held out until extra time, where a fierce rearguard action kept Milan at bay and unheralded substitute Michel Adopo turned home an improbable 114th-minute winner.
Having withstood a total of 34 shots at their goal, Toro earned a meeting with Fiorentina in the last eight, and they now return to Serie A duty buoyed by their commendable cup feat.
After 17 rounds, they sat 10th in the table; 14 points clear of the drop zone, but unlikely to be European contenders. Head coach Ivan Juric has overseen three consecutive draws in his side's most recent league games - each of them ending 1-1 - after returning from Salerno with just a point despite Antonio Sanabria heading them in front at Stadio Arechi.
Roma, Verona and Salernitana have therefore denied them victory since their last top-flight win in early November, so Juric will be particularly keen to capitalise on the latest fixture in a relatively soft opening to 2023; Torino are unbeaten at home against Spezia in Serie A - albeit across only two games - and will expect that run to continue on Sunday.
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While Spezia are yet to taste victory at Stadio Olimpico Grande since being promoted to Calcio's top tier for the first time in 2020, they have gone undefeated in three of their four meetings with Torino during that period.
More recently, the Aquilotti have avoided losing in their last four Serie A matches, and they now target a first-ever five-in-a-row streak among Italy's elite.
Like Torino, though, too many draws have hindered their recent progress, and after leading 2-0 before imploding late on against Atalanta just after the World Cup break, Spezia were unable to find a way past last year's Serie B champions Lecce last weekend.
Indeed, no team has drawn more matches from leading positions than Luca Gotti's side this season - five, level with Empoli - and that partly explains why they languish just one place above the bottom three at Serie A's halfway stage.
While six points clear of 18th-placed Sampdoria, the Ligurian outfit will be aware such an advantage can vanish in barely the blink of an eye, so with another 18 games to go after this week's trip to Turin, the road ahead could still be a rocky one.
Team News
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After their exertions in the Coppa Italia, Torino boss Ivan Juric could make a number of changes to his starting XI on Sunday afternoon - Nemanja Radonjic and Mergim Vojvoda are two serious candidates for promotion from the bench.
The latter should feature on the left flank of Juric's favoured 3-4-2-1 formation, with fellow wing-backs Ola Aina and Valentino Lazaro set to be sidelined by injury; centre-forward Pietro Pellegri is also missing with a thigh problem.
Kofi Djidji's dismissal in the cup will not result in a Serie A ban, but he could still lose his place in central defence to David Zima. Standing in for Pellegri again up front, Antonio Sanabria's last league goal at home came just short of a year ago.
Meanwhile, only Dutch goalkeeper Jeroen Zoet is expected to be unavailable for Spezia this weekend, though Daniele Verde is also a doubt.
The visitors should be virtually unchanged from last time out, with captain Emmanuel Gyasi and leading scorer M'Bala Nzola joining forces up front. Since mid-October, only Victor Osimhen and Lautaro Martinez have been involved in more Serie A strikes than Nzola (six: five goals, one assist).
Torino possible starting lineup:
Milinkovic-Savic; Zima, Schuurs, Buongiorno; Singo, Lukic, Linetty, Vojvoda; Vlasic, Radonjic; Sanabria
Spezia possible starting lineup:
Dragowski; Amian, Kiwior, Nikolaou; Holm, Bourabia, Ampadu, Bastoni, Reca; Gyasi, Nzola
We say: Torino 1-0 Spezia
Tough to beat and boosted by their Coppa Italia heroics, Torino are set to claim back-to-back wins in the space of a few days by seeing off a low-scoring Spezia side on home soil.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Jonathan O'Shea
