TORINO

League position: 18th
Form: D L D L L
Serie A top-scorer: Andrea Belotti (8)
Last time out in Serie A: Torino 2-3 Udinese

Their season so far: Torino have had a tough time of things so far this season and haven’t picked up a league win since their 2-1 victory at Genoa at the start of November.

Bar cup triumphs over Lecce and Virtus Entella, that stands as their only league success in 2020-21, in what has been an underwhelming start to life under former AC Milan coach Marco Giampaolo.

A porous defence has been their biggest issue and is something Giampaolo must quickly start to address if Toro are to avoid a relegation battle that they are already beginning to become entrenched in.

Torino’s sole clean sheet came in a 0-0 draw at home to bottom club Crotone, and having conceded at least twice in eight of their 11 Serie A fixtures, they have the worst defence in the league after shipping 27 goal so far.

In recent weeks, Giampolo has looked for a switch in style to solve his defensive problems, moving to a 3-5-2 rather than the 4-3-1-2 that the 53-year-old had plumped for at the start of the campaign.

Should Torino resolve those concerns at the back, their recovery has the potential to be immediate when you consider that only the top-six and Atalanta have scored more goals than the men from Turin.

Once again, it is their captain Belotti who has led the charge going forward, contributing eight goals to the cause - a return after 11 games that is bettered by just Zlatan Ibrahimovic (10), Cristiano Ronaldo (10) and Romelu Lukaku (9).

Belotti will again lead the Torino line at the Olimpico this week, but the visitors are without injured quartet Daniele Baselli, Vincenzo Millico, Nicola Murru and Samir Ujkani as they go in search of a much-needed win for everyone at the club.

What they've said:

“The squad has better quality than a team that should be in the relegation zone. It doesn’t belong there, so if we are, it’s our own fault.

“I have been working day and night on this aspect to get the team believing in itself, having a sense of responsibility.

“The main problem we have to solve is to get this team playing with confidence, without feeling this crushing pressure.” - Torino coach Giampaolo