AS Roma vs Torino Preview

AS Roma will look to get some breathing space when they welcome Torino to the Stadio Olimpico this Thursday.

After their highs last season, the hosts have endured a terrible start to this season taking just ten points from their first nine games (W2, D4, L3). Their last outing was their biggest and most embarrassing of the season, as they were beaten 5-1 by Fiorentina.

Even the club captain, Lorenzo Pellegrini, agrees, as he labelled the performance against Fiorentina “unacceptable.” With the Giallorossi languishing in the bottom half of Serie A, having failed to win their last three league games (D1, L2), an urgent response is required.

Meanwhile, new manager Ivan Jurić – who only left upcoming opponents Torino in the summer – already finds himself under pressure. The Croatian will hope he can build on Roma’s impressive recent H2H form, losing just one of the last nine meetings (W6, D2).

Failure to do so could see Roma tumble further down the table – they already sit closer to the relegation zone than the top six. However, the fact that Jurić has won just one of his managerial H2Hs against this opponent (D4, L2) does not bode well for the hosts.

Meanwhile, Torino will arrive in Rome in good spirits after ending their run of three games without a win by beating newly-promoted Como 1-0 on Friday. That victory was welcomed by manager Paolo Vanoli, who described it as “full of character and typical of Torino” while picking out the defence and specifically Chilean centre-half Guillermo Maripán for particular praise.

The Italian will hope his side can transfer that solidity to the road where Torino have conceded eight times in their last three such fixtures (W1, L2) – including a pair of 3-2 defeats to Inter and Cagliari.

Other fixtures taking place this week in Serie A:

Serie A Table