Another damn (p)review.

By: Mostafa | February 6th, 2009

Important Match:
Here we go, Donkeys VS Bulls sounds more like an NBA match if you ask me, Chievo Donkeys Vs Torino Bulls, anyway we got a new catanian defender “Gennaro Sardo” and by the looks of it we might just make it out of relegation this season.

I’m here because I think that survival is a possible objective,” declared the former Catania player.

“I think that the team has the characteristics and the qualities to play [competitively and successfully] until the end. Chievo have paid for a difficult start to the season, but are now proving to be a team that does not give up.

“This is proved by the positive run in 2009 and the nice second half performance in their last match against a tough opponent like Sampdoria.”

During his three seasons with Catania, between 2006 and 2009, the 29-year-old played 53 games for the club and scoring also one goal.

Now we have an idea of who this guy is, all what remains is to see how well he does in Gialloblu, and as always Di Carlo has given his tiny speech on the last game

“Today we were lacking the winning strike, especially in the first half. We were playing at 200 kilometres an hour but we couldn’t win. This is the fifth useful result in a row, but now we need to think about bringing all three points home.”

The coach continued, “The team is doing well, we just have to accelerate. The road to salvation from relegation is a long one. We are aiming for 40 points and in order to do that we aim to win as many matches as we can.”

We have located a visual on Sardo

And now for the latest Steal From goal.com The Torino preview.

Kick-off: Sunday, February 8, kick-off 1500 local (CET)

Torino host Chievo Verona this weekend at the Olimpico stadium of Turin, with both teams coming into this game in 18th place with the same number of points.

Things have looked slightly better recently for the Granata and Gialloblu, but they are still four points away from the survival zone.

The home team have avoided defeat in their past three league games, even though they were all draws. The visitors, meanwhile, have started the new year extremely well, obtaining three draws and two wins.

Nothing is compromised yet, but surely a defeat in this match could have serious repercussions, both points-wise and morally, for the rest of the season.

Torino will try to take advantage of the home factor, considering that their opponents are quite weak when playing on the road.

On the other hand, Chievo know that the Granata have one of the worst defensive records in Serie A, therefore they will try to put more misery on their opponent’s rearguard.

Past Encounters

Quite a few encounters have been played recently by these two teams in Turin, with the latest being played in 2006 when Torino defeated Chievo 1-0.

Over the past ten years, there have been seven games played in total, with Torino winning four and drawing the remaining three, thus leaving Chievo empty handed so far.

FORM GUIDE

Torino
Feb 01 Inter 1-1 Torino (SERIE A)
Jan 28 Torino 0-0 Reggina (SERIE A)
Jan 25 Lecce 3-3 Torino (SERIE A)
Jan 22 Lazio 3-1 Torino (COPPA ITALIA)
Jan 18 Toirno 0-1 Roma (SERIE A)

Chievo
Feb 01 Chievo 1-1 Sampdoria (SERIE A)
Jan 28 Chievo 1-1 Lecce (SERIE A)
Jan 25 Reggina 0-1 Chievo (SERIE A)
Jan 18 Chievo 2-1 Napoli (SERIE A)
Jan 11 Bologna 1-1 Chievo (SERIE A)

TEAM NEWS

Torino
Abbruscato, Pisano, Rivalta and Gasbarroni are all injured and will therefore not be available for this match. No player is suspended, but Colombo and Ogbonna are carrying a yellow card into this game.

Probable Formation (4-4-1-1): Sereni, Colombo, Di Loreto, Dellafiore, Ogbonna, Abate, Dzemaili, Zanetti, Diana, Rosina, Bianchi

Chievo
The injured Bogdani is the only unavailable player for the Gialloblu, as there are no players suspended. However, Esposito, Pellissier and Moro will have to be careful not to be shown the yellow card in order to play the next game.

Probable Formation (4-4-2): Sorrentino, Frey, Morero, Yepes, Mantovani, Luciano, Rigoni, Marcolini, Bentivoglio, Makinwa, Pellissier

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Torino

Rolando Bianchi needs to start scoring goals, otherwise he will be remembered as a flash in the pan in the future. He does have the qualities, but seems to be lacking continuity this season.

Chievo

He has improved throughout the season, but Sergio Pellissier is still far from his best form and he will be hoping for his team’s sake that he adds more goals to his season’s goal tally, which currently stands at three.

PREDICTION

Both teams are coming from positive results and the motivation to win this encounter will not be lacking. However, despite Chievo’s better form, this could be the game in which Torino start climbing up the standings.

Torino 2-1 Chievo

Glenn Debattista