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Saturday sees a trio of matches in Serie A, with Torino playing host to Spezia at the Stadio Olimpico in the early evening kick-off.
Both of these sides currently sit in the bottom half of Serie A, but struggling Torino are four places below Spezia in 18th.
A win would potentially take them up to 16th, and Toro will be targeting this as a must-win encounter.
Torino vs Spezia Head-to-Head
The early part of Torino’s season was horrendous. They began the 2020-21 campaign with four losses in their first five matches, and by mid-December they’d fallen to defeat on eight occasions.
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Since then, though, their form has gone on an upturn of sorts. Torino have only lost once since 17 December, and that defeat was at the hands of current league leaders AC Milan.
Interestingly, they played Milan again this week Coppa Italia action, holding them to a 0-0 draw before losing in a penalty shoot-out.
Spezia, meanwhile, saw a nasty run of no wins in eight games cause them to slide down the table. However, since 2021 began, their form has improved.
They’re now on a two-game winning streak, impressing in victories over Napoli and Sampdoria.
Given that this is Spezia’s first season in Serie A – while Torino have been in the top flight for nine years – there are no recent results between these two sides.
Torino form guide: D-W-D-L-L
Spezia form guide: L-L-L-W-W
Torino vs Spezia Team News
Torino
Torino will be without midfielder Tomas Rincon, who is suspended for this game after accumulating too many yellow cards.
Mergim Vojvoda, Simone Zaza and Federico Bonazzoli are all expected to miss out with injuries.
Injured: Mergim Vojvoda, Simone Zaza, Federico Bonazzoli
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Spezia
Spezia will have defender Ardian Ismajli back after his suspension. Simone Bastoni, Matteo Ricci and Gennaro Acampora are all expected to miss out after testing positive for COVID-19.
Elio Capradossi, Jeroen Zoet and Federico Mattiello are all unavailable, but Andrej Galabinov should be back following an injury.
Injured: Elio Capradossi, Jeroen Zoet, Federico Mattiello
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Unavailable: Gennaro Acampora, Simone Bastoni, Matteo Ricci
Torino vs Spezia Predicted XI
Torino predicted XI (3-5-2): Salvatore Sirigu, Armando Izzo, Lyanco, Bremer, Wilfried Singo, Sasa Lukic, Simone Verdi, Karol Linetty, Nicola Murru, Andrea Belotti, Amer Gojak
Spezia predicted XI (4-3-3): Ivan Provedel, Luca Vignali, Claudio Terzi, Ardian Ismajli, Riccardo Marchizza, Nahuel Eztevez, Lucien Agoume, Tommaso Pobega, Emmanuel Gyasi, M’Bala Nzola, Diego Farias
Torino vs Spezia Prediction
This one is a pretty tight game to call. Torino have definitely improved in 2021 but are still struggling for wins. Meanwhile, Spezia have done well in the past couple of weeks but aren’t the best defensively.
It seems like a tight game is likely here with both sides desperate for points. We expect this to end in a draw.
Prediction: Torino 1-1 Spezia
