Preview: Torino vs Lecce - prediction, team news, lineups

With one league win between them since the turn of the year, Serie A strugglers Torino and Lecce will scrap for points in Sunday's early kickoff.

Before welcoming his old club to Turin, a desperate streak of four top-flight defeats has left Toro boss Marco Baroni clinging onto his job.

Match preview

Last week marked a low point in Torino's unravelling campaign, as a 6-0 capitulation to Como left them facing the prospect of an unexpected relegation fight.

The Granata have lost their last four Serie A matches, conceding an average of three goals per game; now in freefall, they sit just six points clear of the drop zone.

A modest tally of 23 points is their worst at this stage since 2021, when they ultimately finished 17th, so head coach Baroni is under pressure to turn things around.

Ahead of next week's Coppa Italia quarter-final against mighty Inter Milan, Toro must head back to Turin, where they will face a frustrated fanbase.

Having lost more than half of their home games, Baroni's boys cannot afford to lose again: only five points separate them from 17th-placed Lecce, and several other clubs are gaining ground.

However, this week's visitors have won both of the last two league meetings, including November's reverse fixture.

Lecce's plight is even worse than Torino's, as the Salentini are winless in seven Serie A matches and have failed to score in the last three.

While they picked up a valuable point from last week's home draw with Lazio - which ended a streak of four straight defeats - Eusebio Di Francesco's team are deep in danger.

Hampered by an acute lack of firepower, the Giallorossi have failed to find the net in four of their last five away games, and their last success on the road came back in early November.

Having scored just six away goals all season, Lecce can try to improve that dismal record on Sunday, when they face Serie A's most leaky defence.

As 15 of their 18 points have been taken from teams inside the bottom half of the standings, the southern club will hope to bring something back from a long trek north to Turin.

Torino Serie A form:

L W L L L L

Torino form (all competitions):

W L L W L L

Lecce Serie A form:

D L L L L D

Team News

Torino's attacking options could be limited, as Cyril Ngonge is set to leave and Giovanni Simeone is still struggling with a thigh problem.

As a result, Duvan Zapata and Alieu Njie will fight for the right to partner Che Adams, who scored against Lecce earlier this season.

Baroni is also missing midfield pair Ivan Ilic and Gvidas Gineitis, while Zakaria Aboukhlal, Adam Masina and Ardian Ismajli are major doubts.

Though Cagliari's Matteo Prati is due to replace the departing Kristjan Asllani, he is unlikely to feature this weekend, but Lecce new boys Walid Cheddira, Omri Gandelman and Sadik Fofana are all in contention.

Cheddira recently arrived as cover for teenage striker Francesco Camarda, who could miss three months after undergoing shoulder surgery, and he will vie with Nikola Stulic to lead the Salentini's attack.

Aside from Camarda, midfielder Medon Berisha is the visitors' other confirmed absentee, with Kialonda Gaspar returning from suspension. However, several players - most notably, Mohamed Kaba - are set to exit before the winter transfer window slides shut.

Torino possible starting lineup:

Paleari; Tameze, Maripan, Coco; Pedersen, Casadei, Ilkhan, Lazaro; Vlasic; Adams, Zapata

Lecce possible starting lineup:

Falcone; Veiga, Gabriel, Gaspar, Gallo; Coulibaly, Ramadani; Pierotti, Gandelman, Banda; Stulic

We say: Torino 2-1 Lecce

Serie A's worst attack (Lecce, 13 goals scored) will visit the league's leakiest defence (Torino, 40 goals conceded), and both clubs are in awful form.

So, it could be a tense contest decided by a few moments of magic or madness, with Toro's greater potency swinging the result in their favour.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.