The 200th edition of the Turin Derby, also known as Derby della Mole, will take place on Friday evening, when Serie A champions Juventus host city rivals Torino at the Allianz Stadium. The Bianconeri won the reverse fixture 1-0 in December and Cristiano Ronaldo scored the only goal of the match from a penalty kick. That was the fourth consecutive victory in the derby for Juventus and also the fourth successive clean sheet. Torino have not won a derby match since 2015, when they grabbed a 2-1 Serie A victory. Overall, Juventus have won the derby 88 times, while Torino have secured just 56 wins.
The season is already over for Juventus, they have already secured their eight consecutive Serie A title and they were knocked out of the cup competitions already. But the Turin Derby remains a special occasion regardless of what happens in the league table, it's a matter of pride for the fans and the players should treat this match accordingly. Moreover, a good result for Juventus could destroy Torino's hopes of finishing in the top four. Last week Juventus grabbed a 1-1 draw at Inter, with yet another goal from Cristiano Ronaldo, his 20th Serie A goal of the season. The Portuguese star will most likely continue to lead the attack for the Bianconeri since Mario Mandzukic and Paulo Dybala are still out injured, along with Sami Khedira, Rodrigo Bentancur and Mattia Perin.
Torino are having their best season since the early 1990s, they are in the race for a top-four finish and if they manage to secure that spot they will play in Europe's top competition for the first time since 1977. They are unbeaten in their last six Serie A matches and have won four of them, including last week's 2-0 victory over AC Milan. Torino moved up to sixth place with that result, three points behind fourth-placed Atalanta with four matches left in the season. The last time they finished in the top four was in 1992, when they ended the season in third place. Koffi Djidji is the only injury concern for head coach Walter Mazzarri.
Probable line-ups:
Juventus: Szczesny - Cancelo, Bonucci, Chiellini, Spinazzola - Cuadrado, Can, Pjanic, Matuidi - Ronaldo, Kean
Torino: Sirigu - Moretti, N’Koulou, Izzo - De Silvestri, Rincon, Meite, Aina - Lukic - Alex Berenguer, Belotti
My prediction: 2-2 draw, Torino will fight to get at least a point in this match and I think they will pull that off.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Juvenus win - 1.70
Draw - 3.60
Torino win - 5.50
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