Palermo vs Torino: Preview and Prediction

Palermo vs Torino
2016/17 Italian Serie A.
Date: Monday, 17 October 2016
Kick-Off: 19:45 UK,
Venue: Stadio Renzo Barbera (Palermo).

Decades ago, Torino were among the strongest sides in Italy. Things have dramatically changed since then, but the Granata, who are currently under the tutelage of Serbian tactician Sinisa Mihajlovic, appear to be on the up and up. Of course, the team now has garnered more interest outside Italy and those who regularly follow calcio due to their signature of English shot-stopper Joe Hart, and since his move, the Manchester City man has appeared to be slowly settling in well in his new surroundings. In fact, the team have only lost one match since he joined from the Sky Blues.

The Granata come into this tie on a four-match unbeaten streak, including wins in their past two matches. Impressively, those victories came against Roma and Fiorentina, and neither were one of those “park-the-bus-and-get-one-lucky-goal” kind of matches. Torino thoroughly beat the Giallorossi 3-1 before overpowering the Viola 2-1 prior to the international hiatus, and they will be definitely fancying their chances against a Palermo side who are still struggling to find their footing.

The Rosanero have picked up just six points from their first seven games and are already looking set to be involved in the much-undesired battle to avoid the drop. Palermo have yet to win at the Stadio Renzo Barbera and have yet to even score a goal on home turf. Still, if one were to look at their opponents, it is easy to understand why Roberto De Zerbi’s side have struggled.

Napoli and Juventus, two sides who are Scudetto contenders have made up two out of their three visitors. They were crushed 3-0 by the Partenopei, but were actually quite unfortunate not to get anything out of their tie against the Bianconeri – ultimately being unbeaten by a deflected goal. And in their last match before the international hiatus, the Sicilians were quite unlucky to have to share the spoils with Sampdoria after being quite solid following Ilija Nestorovski’s second-half effort.

Nestorovski in particular has been quite impressive for the Rosanero, but has yet to break his duck at the Stadio Renzo Barbera.

Palermo vs Torino Head-to-head statistics

Palermo have lost their past three home games.
The Rosanero are also the only side in Serie A yet to score on their home turf this season.
Torino have lost only one out of their past 11 meetings with Palermo (six wins, four draws).
The Granata have scored at least two goals in their last four meetings with Palermo.

Palermo vs Torino: Prediction

This could be a close one. There are reports that Hart is struggling with a back problem and may not be able to make the trip to Palermo for Monday’s tie. Although the Granata are a side in the ascendancy, the Rosanero have been slowly growing in confidence – despite the fact that they have not been winning. There is also that extra incentive to finally get something out of what will be Palermo’s fourth home game, and more important, to break that frustrating goal-scoring drought in front of their own fans.

Palermo, despite their woes, have only been thoroughly humiliated once – during their 3-0 defeat to Napoli. Other from that, all of their defeats have been by just one goal. A low-scoring draw (1-1) is definitely on the cards here, as the Rosanero will finally grab a home goal, but will have difficulty keeping a clean sheet (as they have yet to do so all season).