Two of clubs mired in Serie A's remarkable relegation battle meet at the Olympic Stadium in Turin on Friday night, when Torino host Cagliari.
Remarkably, the teams between 11th and 18th in Serie A are separated by just four points with over half of the season played, and none showing any consistent form.
Match preview
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With just one win in 12 games, Torino's continued slump down the table now finds them in the bottom half, even though they are unbeaten in four games.
The downside to that recent run is that all four have ended in draws, and with so many sides below them playing each other, teams are picking up points each week and making ground on them.
After taking 11 points from the first five games of the season, Torino were right up near the top of the standings, but their fall off since has been massively disappointing, taking 12 points from the following 16.
Paolo Vanoli will certainly have been happy with his side taking a point from their last two matches though, in the derby with Juventus, and at the Artemio Franchi with Fiorentina on Sunday.
1-0 down and reduced to 10 men, Torino found an extra gear, and snatched a shock equaliser thanks to young Lithuanian Gvidas Gineitis, ensuring the gap between themselves and the bottom three remained at four points.
However, they will hope that this is the game to break that run, because making it five straight Serie A draws for the first time in four years would be rather underwhelming in a very winnable fixture.
The Granata have only managed two wins in their last 11 meetings with Cagliari though, and lost 3-2 in Sardinia earlier this season.
That presents Cagliari with the chance to complete a league double over Torino for the first time since 2012-13, and after a huge win last weekend, Davide Nicola will return to his old club with a team brimming with confidence.
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After just one win in six games, the clash with Lecce on Sunday took on huge importance, and Cagliari passed that test, despite an unconvincing opening hour.
Cagliari trailed until the 60th minute, but aided by a red card to Ante Rebic, Nicola's men ran riot in the final half-hour, scoring four goals without reply to seal an important three points that moved them out of the relegation zone.
That leaves the visitors in 14th ahead of the weekend, but that is all set to change again on gameweek 22, because they could go above Torino into 11th with a win, but a defeat leaves them in danger of slipping down the standings, as the three teams behind them are all within a point.
Backing up that victory will be the next challenge now, because the Sardinians have not won back-to-back games in Serie A in almost a year, but manager Nicola has beaten his former employers in his last two meetings.
Team News
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Ali Dembele was the man sent off for Torino at Fiorentina last weekend so he will be suspended, but Karol Linetty and Sebastian Walukiewicz will return after serving bans in that draw.
Vanoli is also without Kosovan full-back Mergim Vojvoda due to a calf issue, while fellow defender Perr Schuurs has missed most of the season with a knee injury.
Duvan Zapata and Emirhan Ilkhan are both long-term absentees with ACL tears, and Ivan Ilic is currently sidelined in midfield with a muscular problem.
In comparison, there is just one injury issue for Cagliari, and it concerns Zito Luvumbo, who is close to returning from an ankle problem.
Nadir Zortea will be the man to watch in this one, with the Cagliari attacker in sensational form, scoring in three straight games, including the leveller away at AC Milan, and the clinching goal against Lecce.
The visitors have entered the market this month, and they swapped keepers with Napoli on respective loans, with Elia Caprile coming in while Simone Scuffet went the other way, and the new stopper has already made 11 saves in his two appearances for the club.
Torino possible starting lineup:
Milinkovic-Savic; Lazaro, Walukiewicz, Maripan, Coco, Sosa; Ricci, Linetty, Vlasic; Adams, Karamoh
Cagliari possible starting lineup:
Caprile; Zappa, Mina, Luperto, Obert; Zortea, Deiola, Marin, Gaetano, Felici; Piccoli
We say: Torino 2-1 Cagliari
Torino's form has been anything but convincing over the past few months, but on the back of two impressive results against difficult opponents, they are showing promising signs again, and a win here will move them clear of relegation trouble.
Despite an emphatic win over Lecce last weekend, Cagliari flattered to deceive for 60 minutes, and were aided by a red card, with this fixture set to pose much more of a challenge to Nicola and his players.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
