Torinovs.Bologna

Paolo Vanoli's men returned to winning ways after six winless games and search for consecutive triumphs against one of the competition's form teams heading into this weekend.

Match preview

Before visiting Empoli, Vanoli and his players must have wondered where their next points would come from, having gone six Serie A matches without maximum points (four losses).

Further worrisome before Che Adams notched the game's only goal was the Granata's shortage of goalscoring threat, with the Turin outfit firing blanks in five fixtures during that run, only scoring in November's 1-1 draw with Monza.

That success was the Maroons' first Serie A victory since October 25, another 1-0 win over Como, and they search for consecutive top-flight victories for the first time since August when Vanoli's men defeated Atalanta (2-1) and Venezia (1-0).

Although Torino have notched four wins this term, every triumph has been by a goal, and the hosts are winless in front of their supporters since beating Cesc Fabregas's promoted side two months ago.

Despite losing two of the next three in their backyard at the hands of Fiorentina and Napoli, both defeats were 1-0, either side of a 1-1 draw with Monza, highlighting the closeness of their games.

While the Bull's battling qualities are unmistakable, the 11th-placed Granata hope the recent victory over Empoli turns out to be the fillip to inspire a turnaround in results.

Securing consecutive victories this weekend will be far from straightforward for Vanoli's men, who welcome one of the form Serie A clubs in Bologna.

After starting slowly under former Fiorentina boss Vincenzo Italiano, the Rossoblu's form has steadily improved, as evidenced by notching 16 points since gameweek 10, level with defending champions Inter Milan and only inferior to Atalanta BC (21).

Regardless, the Emilia-Romagna outfit's dropped points during the ongoing sequence were on their travels, falling 3-0 at Lazio and drawing 2-2 at Juventus despite leading 2-0.

While Italiano's men have clinched three consecutive victories on home soil, recent road outcomes have threatened to undermine the undoubted upswing, and the Greyhounds aim to avoid a third winless match on their travels.

Even though victory for Bologna (25 points) cannot take the seventh-placed club above Juventus (28) in sixth this weekend, losing has potential consequences of sliding to eighth if AC Milan (23) win at Hellas Verona.

Torino Serie A form:

L

L

D

L

D

W

Bologna Serie A form:

W

W

L

W

D

W

Bologna form (all competitions):

L

W

W

D

D

W

Team News

Torino centre-back Saul Coco will miss Saturday's match after picking his fifth yellow card against Empoli, while Duvan Zapata, Emirhan Ilkhan and Perr Schuurs are out with knee injuries.

All four goals Adams has scored in Serie A have been after half time, three as a substitute, and his post-interlude impact could decide this weekend's encounter.

Although Bologna have no suspended player, Juan Miranda and Michel Aebischer (muscle) will be assessed before travelling to Turin. However, Nicolo Cambiaghi, Oussama El Azzouzi (both have knee issues), Dan Ndoye (ankle) and Riccardo Orsolini (muscle) are absent.

By scoring against Fiorentina, Jens Odgaard (three goals) has outdone his tally from the previous season and aims to add to his return in Turin.

Torino possible starting lineup:

Milinkovic-Savic; Walukiewicz, Maripan, Masina; Pedersen, Ricci, Linetty, Ginetis, Sosa; Karamoh, Sanabria

Bologna possible starting lineup:

Skorupski; De Silvestri, Beukema, Lucumi, Holm; Freuler, Pobega; Odgaard, Ferguson, Dominguez; Castro

We say: Torino 1-1 Bologna

While Italiano notched a marginal win against former club Fiorentina, this weekend could end differently despite Torino's wider indifferent form.

Written by

Anthony Brown

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