Torino vs Juventus preview: How to watch on TV, live stream, team news & prediction

The first Derby della Mole of the 2021/22 season takes place on Saturday evening as Juventus make the short trip across Turin to the Olimpico Grande where Ivan Juric’s Torino will be waiting.

Juric took the Granata job in the summer following a hugely successful spell at Hellas Verona. After a slow start, the Torino players are beginning to grasp their coach’s methods and they’re unbeaten in their last four outings.

They head into the weekend’s derby level on points with the Bianconeri, who’ll surely be galvanised following their superb victory over the European champions in midweek. A Massimiliano Allegri masterclass helped Juventus to a 1-0 victory over a Thomas Tuchel-led Chelsea, with that man Federico Chiesa grabbing the all-important winner.

Nevertheless, Juve had shown signs of life domestically before their continental conquest. They’ve won their last two in Serie A by 3-2 scorelines and have slowly edged their way up the table following a historically bad start to the season.

While the Turin derby isn’t the fiercest of battles in Italian football due to its one-sidedness, there’s plenty to play for on Saturday with the hosts reinvigorated by their brilliant coach.

Here’s our preview of the weekend’s Derby della Mole.

How to Watch Torino vs Juventus

When is kick-off? Saturday 2 October

What time is kick-off? 17:00 (BST)

Where is it played? Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino

TV channel/live stream? BT Sport ESPN (UK), Paramount+ (US)

Torino Team News

Torino are without Koffi Djidji following his dismissal in Monday’s 1-1 draw with Venezia. Thus, Alessandro Buongiorno could come into Juric’s backline.

Cristian Ansaldi is a doubt after sustaining a knee injury. The Argentine missed training in the week because of the issue and he could join a lengthy injury list. Hitman Andrea Belotti, Juventus loanee Marko Pjaca, Dennis Praet and Simone Zaza are all out of Saturday’s derby.

Juventus Team News

Max Allegri confirmed in his pre-match press conference that Wojciech Szczesny and Giorgio Chiellini are the only certain starters for Saturday. That should see Leonardo Bonucci drop to the bench following a lengthy spell in the starting XI. He deserves a rest.

The visitors are still without Paulo Dybala and Alvaro Morata, while Aaron Ramsey is a doubt. However, Allegri confirmed that Brazilian duo Arthur Melo and Kaio Jorge will make the bench after lengthy spells out.

Predicted Lineups

Torino: Milinkovic-Savic; Buongiorno, Bremer, Rodriguez; Singo, Pobega, Mandragora, Aina; Linetty, Brekalo; Sanabria.

Juventus: Szczesny; Danilo, de Ligt, Chiellini, Alex Sandro; Cuadrado, Locatelli, Bentancur, Bernardeschi; Kean, Chiesa.

Torino’s Recent Form

Venezia 1-1 Torino (27/09) – Serie A

Torino 1-1 Lazio (23/09) – Serie A

Sassuolo 0-1 Torino (17/09) – Serie A

Torino 4-0 Salernitana (13/09) – Serie A

Fiorentina 2-1 Torino (28/08) – Serie A 

Juventus’ Recent Form

Juventus 1-0 Chelsea (29/09) – Champions League

Juventus 3-2 Sampdoria (26/09) – Serie A

Spezia 2-3 Juventus (22/09) – Serie A

Juventus 1-1 AC Milan (19/09) – Serie A

Malmo 0-3 Juventus (14/09) – Champions League

Prediction

Despite the absence of key personnel, Ivan Juric’s system will ensure this is a difficult task for Juventus. Torino have been one of the most aggressive pressing teams in Serie A this season – a feature of Juric-coached sides – and they’ll be looking to disrupt the Bianconeri’s rhythm in the build-up phase.

I think there’s potential for the hosts to somewhat dominate here (thanks to their press) and force the confident visitors into a mid-block and counter-attack gameplan. However, following Wednesday’s masterclass, you have to be confident that Juve can withstand Torino’s attack and transition with success via Chiesa, Moise Kean and Juan Cuadrado.

This won’t be pretty. Torino are an awkward proposition and they’ll be buoyed by the home support. But, I’m backing Juventus to prevail in Saturday’s derby… just.

Prediction: Torino 1-2 Juventus