Having toppled the reigning champions last week, Torino travel to Marassi on Saturday, when they meet mid-table rivals Genoa.

Toro crushed Napoli 3-0 to stay inside the top half of the Serie A standings, while their hosts have gone four games unbeaten and now sit seven points clear of the drop zone.

Match preview

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After a first-half strike from Icelandic forward Albert Gudmundsson put Genoa on course for success over Bologna in their opening fixture of 2024, shipping a late goal ultimately saw them denied victory - and not for the first time this season.

The Grifone may have adapted well to life in the top flight since bouncing back from relegation, but they have now lost more points (11) through conceding goals during the final 10 minutes of play than any other Serie A side.

Nonetheless, Genoa have now come through a tough run of fixtures with draws against both of Italy's runaway top two, Inter Milan and Juventus, plus a 2-1 win at Sassuolo - in addition to taking one point home from Stadio Dall'Ara.

Sitting 12th in the table as a result, they now have some breathing room from the bottom three and can look towards the second half of their comeback campaign with relish.

Alberto Gilardino's side could extend their undefeated streak to five games this weekend, but recent history suggests that may prove no simple task: Genoa have won only one of their last 11 league matches against Torino - including a loss when the clubs last met, in September 2022.

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Indeed, Torino have won no fewer than eight of their last 10 Serie A matches against Genoa - as many victories as in the previous 30 - and will arrive at Stadio Luigi Ferraris buoyed by a superb success last time out.

Securing their first league win over Napoli since 2015, Toro cruised past the Scudetto holders thanks to goals from Antonio Sanabria, Nikola Vlasic and Alessandro Buongiorno - the latter two coming after their bedraggled visitors were reduced to 10 men.

The Granata have now claimed as many as 27 points from the first half of a Serie A season for the first time since 2016-17, and they sit just one point behind ninth-placed Napoli in the tightly-packed race for a top-six place.

Some fine form in Turin has certainly helped, but before this week's trip to Liguria, Torino have not found the net in any of their last three away matches, and they most recently scored on the road in mid-November.

Toro coach Ivan Juric now returns to his former club targeting an end to that drought, and with 'winnable' games against Cagliari, Salernitana, Sassuolo and Lecce lying ahead, it would be a fine time to find some fluency up front.

Team News

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Although Alberto Gilardino has seen defensive rock Radu Dragusin depart for the Premier League this week, Genoa's head coach should have an almost full squad available on Sunday afternoon, with Tottenham Hotspur loanee Djed Spence potentially included on the bench.

Midfield duo Kevin Strootman and Morten Thorsby are expected to return from injury and illness respectively, while Juventus loanee Koni De Winter should overcome a bout of flu to take Dragusin's place in the hosts' back three.

Set to join either Caleb Ekuban or Mateo Retegui up front, Albert Gudmundsson has been directly involved in five league goals since the Grifone's mid-December draw with Juve.

Meanwhile, Duvan Zapata leads Torino's forward line, having scored nine times against Genoa throughout his time in Serie A, with four goals and five assists.

The visitors' only confirmed absentee is ACL victim Perr Schuurs, but Czech centre-back David Zima may also miss out this weekend.

Ex-Genoa player and manager Ivan Juric is unlikely to make many changes to the side that started against Napoli, and he could even name the same XI again.

Genoa possible starting lineup:
Martinez; De Winter, Bani, Vasquez; Sabelli, Frendrup, Badelj, Malinovskyi, Haps; Gudmundsson; Retegui

Torino possible starting lineup:
Milinkovic-Savic; Djidji, Buongiorno, Rodriguez; Bellanova, Ricci, Ilic, Lazaro; Vlasic; Sanabria, Zapata

We say: Genoa 1-1 Torino

Although Torino tend to struggle for goals when away from home, last week's success should imbue their forwards with confidence. As a result, they can come close to taking three points back to Turin - but Gilardino's Genoa are not easily beaten at Marassi and can escape with a draw.


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Written by
Jonathan O'Shea

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