Torino vs Napoli preview

March 16, 2014
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Torino vs NapoliSerie A high-flyers Torino will be aiming to end a recent slump in form when they host third-place Napoli, a team that are making giant strides towards Champions League qualification.

Granata did well to establish themselves as genuine mid table side shortly after their return to the elite division and they did nothing to harm their new-found reputation this season.

Giampiero Ventura’s side have played some great football to come on the brink of Europa League positions, although they ultimately failed to mount a serious top 6 bid.

After impressing at the start of the New Year, Torino have struggled for form of late, losing three straight league fixtures to slip to ninth in the overall standings.

And having also failed to score since defeating Hellas Verona on the road exactly a month ago, Granata clearly face a tough task against in-form Napoli.

The hosts will, nonetheless, be very motivated to finally end their losing run, so you should know draw pays 3.40 (12/5).

Boss Ventura has received a welcoming boost as Kamil Gilk, Nikola Maksimovic and Cesare Bovo resumed full training, while Migjen Basha also returns.

Giuseppe Vives misses out through suspension, whereas Marcelo Larrondo, Salvatore Masiello and Giovanni Pasquale remain on the sidelines.

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

Napoli may not have been able to mount a serious title challenge in Serie A, but they have still achieved plenty of success this term.

The Azzurri will be vying Fiorentina for the Coppa Italia trophy, whereas they are still in the race for the Europa League trophy.

Meanwhile, they have created a ten-point cushion over their rivals for the final Champions League berth in Serie A, and are now set to try and pip Roma to the second place in the standings.

The good run of results, however, ended as Rafael Benitez’s charges were beaten by FC Porto in midweek, with the Azzurri 2.30 (13/10) to return to winning ways in Turin.

Jorginho looks set to return as he was ineligible for the Porto clash, but Christian Maggio is out after being admitted to the hospital with pneumothorax.

Rafael Cabral, Giandomenico Mesto and Camilo Zuniga are not yet ready to return, but Mertens, Fernandez and Inler will be recalled as they were rested in midweek.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Reina – Reveillere, Albiol, Fernandez, Ghoulam – Jorginho, Inler – Callejon, Hamsik, Mertens – Higuain.

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