Torino vs Spezia prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2023-01-14 14:00.
Ten-man Torino stunned AC Milan 1-0 in the Coppa Italia on Wednesday and will hope to carry that confidence back to Serie A (SA) to ignite their top-six challenge. On a string of three straight 1-1 league draws with the last two coming against current bottom-half clubs, the Torino faithful may be excused for thinking those as dropped points, although a single loss across seven league games (W3, D3) is testimony to their newly-found resolute nature.
Recent performances give hope that Torino’s season may gather momentum and a win here would extend a four-game unbeaten home sequence (W3, D1). No team has been able to score more than a goal against Torino at Stadio Olimpico di Torino this season, while they’ve scored nine goals across the last four such games, and this upturn of striking fortunes may prove critical to their European qualification hopes.
Spezia are hovering right above the relegation zone but a four-game unbeaten run (W1, D3) fuels hopes of extending their three-year top-flight stay. The visitors now have a chance to go unbeaten in five consecutive SA games for the first time in their history and M'Bala Nzola’s form could be crucial, with the striker netting three of their last four league goals.
Nzola was also the star of the show when scoring a second-half brace as Spezia won 2-1 at Verona in their last road trip, which halted a sequence of seven straight away league losses. Visits to all current top-five teams suggests the schedule has been harsh but with six of their seven away losses coming ‘to-nil’, Spezia are crying for improvements in the final third.
Key battle: Saša Lukić scored both Torino goals in a 2-1 win in this fixture last season, which remains one of his two career braces. Bartłomiej Drągowski could be his biggest barrier in the Spezia goal, with the shot stopper avoiding defeat in three of his four career matches against Torino (W2, D1).
Hot stat: Spezia have drawn a joint-league high five matches from leading positions this season.