The latest Turin derby – a fixture first played in 1907 – pits together sides separated by only two points and two places in the Serie A standings, and Juve’s current crisis opens an opportunity for Il Toro to overtake them. Lurching from one disaster to another this season, Juventus arrive home from European humiliation to face city rivals Torino in Saturday’s Derby della Mole.Juventus players were consigned to a training retreat – or ‘ritiro’ – ahead of this week’s derby, which is always a sign of discontent at any Serie A club. No wonder, given the latest in a long line of failures of the Old Lady, who were humbled by Champions League minnows Maccabi Haifa. The 2-0 defeat at Sammy Ofer Stadium heaped further scorn on beleaguered coach Max Allegri, whose team are perilously placed in Group H; trailing both Benfica and Paris Saint-Germain by five points in the table.Domestically, things are barely better for the fallen giants, as they sat eighth after the first nine rounds of the Serie A campaign – already 10 points adrift of relentless leaders Napoli. That represents the club’s worst return at this stage for seven years, though back then they subsequently embarked on a 15-game winning streak – started by victory over Torino. Juventus current form is far from good – they have now lost five of their last eight outings in all competitions.⚽️ | Long time ago!The last time Torino managed to beat Juventus in the ‘Derby della Mole’, Andrea Pirlo and Carlos Tevez were still part of Juventus. The game in 2️⃣0️⃣1️⃣5️⃣ ended in a 2️⃣-1️⃣ victory for Torino! Can they do the same again today against a struggling Juventus? pic.twitter.com/TimlC1m3LH— Visubal (@visubal) October 15, 2022 The Bulls can be hopeful as Juve failed to win any of their last six away games in the Italian top flight. However, il Bianconeri have rarely struggled to beat their tonight’s hosts. Juve lost just one of their last 32 league encounters – coming out on top 23 times – and remain unbeaten against Il Toro since 2015.Torino’s last clean sheet against Juventus in Serie A was way back in 2008, and over the intervening period they have conceded 40 times in 22 meetings. They managed to pull off a 1-1 draw in the most recent Derby della Mole.Torino have now registered just two wins from their last 12 home fixtures and have even failed to score in five of their last eight.However, they remain within the top half of the table but only by a single point, and a promising start to the 2022-23 season is being undermined by a lack of penalty-area prowess, for all their admirable build-up play.The hosts stand much better when you look at the number of absentees – they have a clean bill of health, so could even name an unchanged team from that which drew with Empoli last time out. Mergim Vojvoda’s return to fitness, though, means wing-backs Ola Aina and Valentino Lazaro have competition on either flank.Last year, Antonio Sanabria became the first Torino player to score a Serie A double against Juventus since 2000, but the Paraguayan striker has now failed to find the net on home soil for nearly nine months.Juventus vs Torino in Serie A: 154 games, 72 wins for Juve, 44 draws, 38 wins for Torino #juventus #TorinoJuventus #torino pic.twitter.com/7L5wZsltHj— Kingdom of Juventus (@Juventusnj) October 15, 2022 As for the fallen Juventus, Angel Di Maria keeps missing matches. Following a Serie A suspension that kept him out of games against Bologna and Milan, the Argentina international was withdrawn in Haifa with a hamstring injury that now rules him out until November.He should be back in time for the World Cup, and so should long-term absentee Paul Pogba. The French midfielder misses out again this week, alongside Federico Chiesa, who is close to returning from a cruciate ligament rupture suffered in January.Arkadiusz Milik who should be among the starting XI in partnership with Dusan Vlahovic, has scored only one goal against Torino in eight previous matches.Mattia De Sciglio is also ruled out of the derby by a thigh problem, so Alex Sandro may continue at left-back, or Filip Kostic could be used as a wing-back if Max Allegri opts for a 3-5-2 formation.SERIE A – MATCHDAYSaturday 16.00: (2.70) Empoli (3.20) Monza (2.95)19.00: (3.10) Torino (3.10) Juventus (2.52)21.45: (1.72) Atalanta (3.80) Sassuolo (5.20)Sunday 13.30: (1.36) Inter (5.90) Salernitana (9.50)16.00: (2.30) Lazio (3.50) Udinese (3.35)16.00: (2.55) Spezia (3.30) Cremonese (3.10)19.00: (1.31) Napoli (6.00) Bologna (10.0)21.45: (6.25) Verona (4.10) Milan (1.63)Monday 19.30: (5.40) Sampdoria (3.70) Roma (1.79)21.45: (3.90) Lecce (3.25) Fiorentina (2.19)***odds are subject to change
