Roma vs Torino preview

March 24, 2014
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Roma vs TorinoAS Roma will be looking to keep their slim hopes of winning the Serie A title by defeating Torino, but they will obviously have to be wary of the opposition attacking potential.

After a Ciro Immobile hat-trick helped Granata end a four-match losing run, they arrive at Stadio Olimpico with a new-found confidence.

Roma are undoubtedly enjoying the most successful season in recent years, and a second-place finish in Serie A would be a just reward for their efforts.

The Giallorossi have failed to make it to the Coppa Italia final, losing to Napoli in the semis, but they sit six points ahead of the Azzurri in the league standings, with a game in hand.

Their Champions League qualification appears secured, but Roma are still hoping to revive their title bid and, therefore, need to try and extend the food run by beating Torino.

After recording back to back triumphs over Udinese and Chievo, Rudi Garcia’s charges are 1.44 (4/9) favourites to make it three on the bounce.

Daniele De Rossi returns after serving a three-match ban, but Mehdi Benatia misses out through suspension. The likes of Federico Balzaretti and Kevin Strootman remain sidelined.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): De Sanctis – Maicon, Romagnoli, Castan, Torosidis – Nainggolan, De Rossi, Pjanic – Gervinho, Totti, Destro.

Torino largely impressed to secure Serie A survival with more than 10 games to go, but they have experienced all sorts of problems of late.

Difficult fixture list was certainly one of the reasons why Giampiero Ventura’s side lost four straight matches, but they should at least have done better against Sampdoria at home.

This is why home game against Livorno was extremely important, and once again Ciro Immobile came to the rescue, scoring a hat-trick to take his total goal count to 16.

And with the talented forward in excellent form this season, there may be value in backing Torino to score at odds of 1.85 (17/20).

Alessio Cerci has recovered from a knee problem, but Migjen Basha and Alexander Farnerud remain injury doubts. Marcelo Larrondo, Giovanni Pasquale and Salvatore Masiello are not yet ready to return.

Probable starting line-up (3-5-2): Padelli – Bovo, Gilk, Moretti – Maksimovic, Kurtic, Vives, El Kaddouri, Darmian – Cerci, Immobile.

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