Preview: Torino vs. Salernitana - prediction, team news, lineups

While Paulo Sousa's side held top-four contenders Inter last time out, they last tasted success in February; Toro's defeat at Roma leaves them three games without a win and out of European contention.

Match preview

After suffering a fifth home loss to Roma from their last seven attempts, Torino sat 11th in the Serie A standings with slim hopes of a late surge for the top six all but extinguished.

Still in the mix for another top-half finish, building on the groundwork laid by Ivan Juric last season, Toro have come a long way from routinely battling relegation and conceding goals by the bucketful, yet there is a sense of frustration in the Granata half of Turin.

Defeats in their last two home fixtures - 4-0 to Napoli and 1-0 against Roma - were split by a 1-1 draw at Sassuolo, and a lack of penalty-box potency has undermined vague dreams of returning to continental competition.

Despite those setbacks against two of the league's top three teams, Torino had previously proved tough to score against on home soil and, under Juric, are surely heading in the right direction.

After a 1-1 draw in January's reverse fixture, when top scorer Antonio Sanabria saw his opening goal cancelled out after the break, they have yet to be beaten by Salernitana in Serie A, so history will be on their side when they welcome their Campanian counterparts to Turin.

All told, Salernitana have suffered four losses from five previous matches against Torino in the Italian top flight, including the teams' most recent encounter at Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino - a 4-0 defeat in September 2021.

They currently trail their fellow Granata club by nine points ahead of this week's game, having drawn each of their last five matches to tread water just above Serie A's relegation zone.

Occupying 15th place with nine rounds to play, a third successive season of top-tier football remains within the Salerno side's grasp, but coach Paulo Sousa will be eager to end such a winless streak on Sunday afternoon.

A total of 11 draws - including at home to Inter last time out, when goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa kept the Nerazzurri at bay and Antonio Candreva's freak finish rescued a point late on - has seen Salernitana lose only 12 times this term.

That represents the club's best performance at this stage of a season, and if they were to stay 15th until the end of the campaign they would equal their best-ever Serie A finish, set back in 1999.

Torino Serie A form:

L

W

W

L

D

L

Salernitana Serie A form:

W

D

D

D

D

D

Team News

Though David Zima and Ola Aina remain out of action for Torino, midfielder Ivan Ilic should return from injury on Sunday and could replace Lithuanian teenager Gvidas Gineitis, who surprisingly started against Roma.

Ivan Juric will certainly have to make a change in defence, as Perr Schuurs must serve a suspension for accumulated bookings, so the versatile Ricardo Rodriguez could shift from wing-back to the left side of Toro's three-man rearguard.

Further forward, Nikola Vlasic competes with Nemanja Radonjic to partner Aleksei Miranchuk in support of lone striker Antonio Sanabria - the latter has been directly involved in 10 Serie A goals this season (eight of his own and two assists).

Salernitana's main threat comes from Boulaye Dia, who has so far recorded 10 top-flight strikes and four assists; Krzysztof Piatek, by contrast, is enduring a drought which dates back to November.

Veteran winger Antonio Candreva has scored five times against Torino in the past, and following his late equaliser against former club Inter he now seeks back-to-back Serie A strikes for the first time since 2021.

In addition to the probable absence of Pasquale Mazzochi, Paulo Sousa must do without the suspended Lassana Coulibaly in midfield, so Juventus loanee Hans Nicolussi is poised for a rare start instead.

Torino possible starting lineup:

Milinkovic-Savic; Gravillon, Buongiorno, Rodriguez; Singo, Ricci, Ilic, Lazaro; Vlasic, Miranchuk; Sanabria

Salernitana possible starting lineup:

Ochoa; Daniliuc, Gyomber, Pirola; Sambia, Vilhena, Nicolussi, Bradaric; Candreva, Dia; Piatek

We say: Torino 1-1 Salernitana

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