Having once again failed to get anything from Derby della Mole against Juventus, Torino will be looking to return to winning ways when they host Sampdoria. Sinisa Mihajlovic’s side were beaten at home by AC Milan, and they clearly face another tricky tie in an attempt to avoid third successive league defeat.

Torino looking good

Despite showing a great deal of promise last season, Torino were predicted a mid table finish at best, but Giampiero Ventura’s men have largely exceeded expectations. The experienced boss has put together a very compact team that is strong at the back and very dangerous on the break and having kept rich vein of form for so long, we can safely say their high league position is not surprising. The likes of Alessio Cerci and Ciro Immobile have proved to be team’s star performers, alongside Omar El Kaddouri, but excellent team spirit and mutual understanding appear to be their biggest strengths. Torino’s impressive run of results came to an end as they suffered a home defeat to Bologna, but away triumph over high-flying Verona proved that had been just a one-off result. Granata were beaten by local rivals Juventus last time out, but they gave a good account of themselves in the match against league’s top side, meaning they go into the Sampdoria clash in good spirits and looking to take advantage of the opposition problems.

Important midfielder Omar El Kaddouri is suspended, whereas Emiliano Moretti and Salvatore Masiello are out injured.

Sampdoria on the downtrend

Sampdoria had experienced all sorts of problems in the opening exchanges and at one point it looked as though they might go down, but things improved considerably with the arrival of Sinisa Mihajlovic. Having quickly restored the lost confidence, the Bluecerchiati started climbing the league standings and are now at a safe distance from the relegation zone. Nevertheless, it appears their good run of form is over, with back to back defeats to AS Roma and AC Milan not really a cause for concern, but a sign that their form is on a downtrend. Having conceded five goals in those matches while failing to register a single goal, Sampdoria could find it hard to match very good Torino side, especially since they will have four first team regulars missing, and we all know the boss is not exactly spoilt for choices in all areas of the pitch. It is important to note that the Bluecerchiati have lost last four matches they played away from Marassi, and everything suggests the trend is going to continue to Sunday afternoon.

Maxi Lopez, Andrea Costa and Angelo Palombo are all suspended, whereas Daniele Gastaldello is a major doubt with an ankle problem.

Verdict

Torino appear to be in very good form at the moment and with attacking duo of Immobile and Cerci in perfect working order, they are rightly considered favourites in this match. Meanwhile, Sampdoria are slowly losing ground and with four first team regulars missing they look destined for defeat.

Top pick: Home win   1.95 (19/20) @ William Hill

Alternative pick 1: Under 2.5 goals   1.73 (8/11) @ Stan James

Alternative pick 2: Torino to win to nil   3.10 (21/10) @ Paddy Power