There are several very interesting matches of the 25th round of Italian Serie A that will be played on Sunday, and in the first of them we have a clash between two great city rivals where the home team, Torino, currently occupies the 9th place in the table and has even 26 points fewer than 2nd-placed Juventus. It was no other team than the Old Lady that inflicted the last defeat to Torino, which happened around the beginning of year in the Coppa Italia. Juventus also won their match played last autumn at home by sound 4-0.
When we add that Torino players just once avoided losing to its city rival out of their last seven head-to-head, when they drew away 1-1 in the finish of previous season, it is quite clear that manager Mazzarri players will not have an easy job in the Sunday’s match. They rely on tiredness of their rivals after demoing match in the Champions League and their better and better form in the league, where they have five-game unbeaten streak of three home wins and two away draws.
Torino won Udinese 2-0 at home last weekend and at the same time took over from the same team the night place in the table and closed in on the 6th-placed Sampdoria to just five points, meaning it is still in the race for the Europa League. However, ahead of Torino players is the most difficult task as they will face the reigning champion and team that needs every point in the race for the Scudetto. We need to add that injured stopper Lynco is the only one who will skip the match.
Probable lineups FC Torino: Sirigu – de Silvestri, N'Koulou, Burdisso, Molinaro – Obi, Rincon, Baselli – Falque, Belotti, Niang
Regarding far more famous club from Turin, it can be stated that they are definitely absolute favourites to win the match, especially as they have 12-game unbeaten streak of even 11 wins and just one draw. True, they drew last weekend in the 1st leg of the Champions League round of 16 when the Bianconeri had merely drew at home 2-2 with English Tottenham, despite having a lead of 2-0 after only 10 mintues.
Later on, they probably involuntarily eased a bit and Higuain also missed the penalty when his team had a lead of 2-1, so they will have to struggle in the 2nd leg in London if they want to reach the quarter-finals. On the other hand, they are still locked in the dead heat with Napoli for the first place, as they have just one point fewer than they at the moment. We need to add that due to injuries this match will skip stopper Howedes, midfielder Matuidi and forward Cuardado, while not fully ready defenders Barzaghi and Lichsteiner, and forward Dybale are questionable.
Probable lineups Juventus: Buffon – de Sciglio, Benatia, Chiellini, Alex Sandro – Khedira, Pjanic, Marchisio – Douglas Costa, Higuain, Mandzukic
Regardless of being a bit tired from the Champions League match and fact that Torino plays fairly good recently, we have nevertheless decided to play on Juventus victory in this city derby, given they still have just one point fewer than leading Napoli.
Pick: Juventus wins 1.85
- 85/100 @1XBet