:Headline: Preview: Torino vs. Lazio - prediction, team news, lineups:
Sports Mole previews Thursday's Serie A clash between Torino and Lazio, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Unbeaten so far this year, Torino can overtake Lazio in the Serie A standings with victory at Stadio Olimpico Grande on Thursday evening.
While Toro will aim to make it seven straight games without defeat, their capital-city counterparts have experienced highs and lows over the past few weeks.
Match preview
Following a fine midweek win in Europe, Lazio returned to domestic duty last weekend, when they welcomed fellow top-four contenders Bologna to Stadio Olimpico.
Though the Biancocelesti had just beaten Bayern Munich to inch towards a place in the Champions League quarter-finals, they proved unable to retain an early lead gained through Gustav Isaksen's opener and now sit seven points adrift of both Bologna and fourth-placed Atalanta BC.
After going five league games without defeat, Lazio have now lost two of their last three - both to other European challengers - allowing several sides below them in the table to close in.
Torino and ailing champions Napoli are within a point of Maurizio Sarri's men ahead of Thursday's fixture, which was postponed from January, when they were unsuccessfully engaged in the Supercoppa Italiana.
While they did not fare well on their sojourn to Saudi Arabia, Lazio have actually won three of their last four away matches in Serie A - as many successes as in the previous nine.
Also unbeaten in their last four league visits to Torino, they will now try to continue that streak, before a busy schedule pits them against Fiorentina, AC Milan, and then Bayern.
Now within touching distance of their visitors from the Italian capital, Torino are only one of three Serie A sides - along with Atalanta and league leaders Inter Milan - still undefeated in 2024.
Six matches so far have brought three draws and three wins, with the first victory in that sequence a superb 3-0 defeat of Napoli, and the most recent being last Friday's 2-0 win over Lecce.
Second-half strikes from Raoul Bellanova and in-form striker Duvan Zapata secured maximum points against the Salentini in Turin, where Toro have only lost once in the league all season - and that was against irrepressible Inter.
Head coach Ivan Juric is renowned for his teams' organisation, and Torino have already registered 12 clean sheets this term - the second-best tally throughout Serie A and their best record at this stage of a top-flight campaign since 1992.
While still stuck in mid-table, the Granata are not far behind the top six, and another win on Wednesday would see them leapfrog Lazio, Napoli and faltering Fiorentina.
Torino Serie A form:
- W
- D
- W
- D
- D
- W
Lazio Serie A form:
- W
- W
- D
- L
- W
- L
Lazio form (all competitions):
- L
- D
- L
- W
- W
- L
Team News
Though Patric picked up an injury and was forced off early on against Bologna, Alessio Romagnoli will return to Lazio's back four in midweek, having served a suspension.
Nicolo Casale took Patric's place on Sunday so is also in contention, while Matias Vecino is back from a ban and may feature in central midfield if fully fit.
Mattia Zaccagni (toe) and Nicolo Rovella (groin) are both expected to miss the trip to Turin, and next week's clash with Fiorentina is considered a more likely target.
While captain Ciro Immobile has scored nine times against Torino in Serie A - having previously registered 27 goals in 47 top-flight appearances for the hosts - Toro's top scorer Duvan Zapata has not fared quite so well versus Lazio.
The latter may have only four league goals to his name in 17 games against the Biancocelesti, but he has registered five goal involvements from six matches so far this year.
Ivan Juric will have Adrien Tameze back from suspension this week, but three other defenders are still sidelined: Alessandro Buongiorno (shoulder), Ricardo Rodriguez (muscular), and long-term absentee Perr Schuurs (ACL).
Torino possible starting lineup:
Milinkovic-Savic; Djidji, Lovato, Masina; Bellanova, Ricci, Ilic, Lazaro; Vlasic; Sanabria, Zapata
Lazio possible starting lineup:
Provedel; Lazzari, Romagnoli, Gila, Marusic; Guendouzi, Cataldi, Alberto; Isaksen, Immobile, Anderson
We say: Torino 1-1 Lazio
Two tactical maestros could cancel each other out in this rescheduled meeting between fellow top-six contenders. Torino can be tough to penetrate, while Lazio are unreliable, so the spoils should be shared.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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