Inching closer to securing their Serie A status, Hellas Verona have won two of their last three games ahead of Sunday's clash with mid-table Torino.
After upsetting Fiorentina last week, the Gialloblu could even confirm top-flight survival with a win at Stadio Bentegodi, but their visitors have not yet given up on snatching a place in Europe.
Match preview
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Since the start of March, Verona have put 14 points on the board from nine Serie A matches, to sit sixth in the form table and - more pertinently - drag themselves out of the drop zone.
Recording their second win in three games - as many as in the previous 12 - Marco Baroni's men stunned Europa Conference League finalists Fiorentina last weekend, with Tijjani Noslin again proving the Gialloblu's saviour in a 2-1 home victory.
Among players who arrived in Serie A during the January transfer window, Noslin has been directly involved in the most goals - four of his own and two assists - and the Dutch striker produced a crucial 59th-minute winner.
Verona will return to headquarters on Sunday, with a four-point buffer to 18th-placed Udinese, and their prospects of staying up have increased substantially due to recent results.
However, Hellas have won only one of their last 13 Serie A home matches against Torino, losing eight times in the process, so despite being backed by the Bentegodi faithful, history will not be on their side.
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In addition to a remarkable away record in this match-up, Torino have not conceded a goal in four of their last five league games against Verona all told - including a 0-0 result in October's reverse fixture.
That scoreline is no outlier for the Granata this season, as a team overseen by rigorous head coach Ivan Juric have recorded the most goalless draws (nine) across Europe's top five leagues in 2023-24.
Following a recent stalemate with top-five candidates Bologna, the Turin club have now failed to score in their last four Serie A matches - one more failure would represent their worst such run since 1991.
Juric therefore returns to his former club in need of both goals and points, as his side sit 10th in the standings and must surely win their final three fixtures to have any chance of claiming a place in Europe for next season.
To do so, Torino will have to overtake eighth-placed Napoli, then hope Atalanta BC and Fiorentina both prevail in their respective European finals.
Team News
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Though Verona boss Marco Baroni has first-choice left-back Juan Cabal back from a ban this weekend, influential midfielder Michael Folorunsho must now serve a suspension for accumulated bookings.
Dani Silva, Tomas Suslov and Stefan Mitrovic are all on standby to replace the latter in Baroni's favoured 4-2-3-1 formation.
Only Juan Cruz misses out through injury for the hosts, but Torino are burdened by a much longer absence list ahead of Sunday's game.
Croatian forward Nikola Vlasic (thigh) recently joined Saba Sazonov (knee), Gvidas Gineitis (knee), Koffi Djidji (muscular) and Perr Schuurs (ACL) in Toro's treatment room; centre-back Alessandro Buongiorno is also struggling with an adductor problem.
Versatile defender Adrien Tameze is available, though, after being suspended last week - he could either feature in a deep midfield role or deputise for Buongiorno in the visitors' back three.
Meanwhile, up front, Antonio Sanabria and David Okereke will battle it out to support 11-goal top scorer Duvan Zapata, who should recover from a knock.
Hellas Verona possible starting lineup:
Montipo; Centonze, Coppola, Magnani, Cabal; Serdar, Duda; Noslin, Suslov, Lazovic; Bonazzoli
Torino possible starting lineup:
Milinkovic-Savic; Vojvoda, Lovato, Masina; Bellanova, Ilic, Tameze, Rodriguez; Ricci; Sanabria, Zapata
We say: Hellas Verona 1-1 Torino
If other results go their way, victory would see Verona to safety, but nine of their last 13 league meetings with Torino have ended in draws - recent trends suggest that could be the outcome again on Sunday afternoon.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
