30 October 2015
- Black and white dominance
April’s 2-1 reverse was the Bianconeri’s first Derby della Mole defeat in 17 games (13 wins, four draws), a result that ended a streak of seven consecutive victories over their city rivals.
The three goals conceded last season by Juve also brought an end to a run of ten clean sheets in as many matches against Giampiero Ventura’s men
- twenty years of hurt for Torino
Such stingy defending has naturally made life tough for the other half of Turin, that has seen their team pick up just two away points from a possible 27 against the Old Lady.
You have to go back to April 1995 to find the last Toro victory on Juve soil, Ruggiero Rizzitelli’s brace settling proceedings on that occasion.
- no place like home
The respective overall home and away records of both teams also makes for pleasant pre-match reading.
Juve’s defeat to Udinese on the opening day of the season was just their first in 47 at Juventus Stadium, a record contrasting favourably with that of Torino, who head into Saturday’s game on the back of three defeats in a row on the road.
The new residents of the Stadio Olimpico have also conceded in each of their previous ten away from home.
- Juve president...Torino founder?
Have you heard the one about the leather mogul who was Juventus president and then founder of their arch rivals?
Swiss businessman Alfredo Dick, born 12 April 1865 in Yverdon-les-Bains, oversaw the Bianconeri’s first ever Scudetto triumph in 1905 before lending his expertise to the creation of Football Club Torino three years later in 1908.
- Quagliarella's history of happy returns
Another man to have crossed the Juve-Torino divide is Fabio Quagliarella. Perhaps ominously for the Bianconeri, no one loves coming back to haunt their old clubs as much as the Italian.
The ex-Juve striker, now of course of a claret persuasion, found the net against all five of his former employers last season (Fiorentina, Juventus, Napoli, Sampdoria and Udinese).
Quagliarella has already repeated the same trick twice already this campaign, scoring decisive goals against la Viola and Samp on Matchdays 2 and 4 respectively.
- Claudio Marchisio, Prince of Piedmont
Having shaken off a bout of flu that kept him out of Wednesday’s loss in Reggio Emilia, Claudio Marchisio will have his eyes on a fourth goal in eight Derby Day meetings.
Two of those strikes memorably came in December 2012 as il Principino added to fellow JAcademy graduate Sebastian Giovinco’s effort to seal a 3-0 win at Juventus Stadium.
- Goals galore for Bulls fans
If it’s penalty-box action you’re looking for, then Ventura’s men have been one of the teams to watch this season: only matches involving Roma (37), Carpi (33) and Sampdoria (32) have produced more goals than il Toro’s total of 31 so far.
Juve’s frontmen may prick up their ears at this point: no goalkeeper has picked the ball out of the net as often as Torino stopper Daniele Padelli (15) since the start of the 2015/16 campaign.
- Set-piece perfection
Unsurprisingly, with towering Polish defender Kamil Glik among their ranks, Torino have already scored four times from corners this season, an average of one in 15.
Saturday’s visitors also clearly practiced their free-kicks routines over the summer, with set-pieces in and around the box contributing another five goals for Ventura’s charges.
Torino have also shown that they are just as well drilled at the other end of the field having not conceded from a corner yet this season.
Paulo Dybala (2) and Paul Pogba’s penalties meanwhile account for the Bianconeri’s only successes from dead-ball situations
- Glik and Baselli lead the way
A glance at the stats would suggest that Glik and Daniele Baselli have been Ventura’s key performers so far this term: although Baselli has been the player to be substituted the most often (four), no one in a claret shirt has completed more crosses than the Italian.
Glik meanwhile leads the way for Venturati’s men in the defensive third, making 28 interceptions and 53 clearances
- beware of the bull
While Juventus haven’t lost four of their first ten league matches of the season since 1987/88, Torino have made their best Serie A start in over ten years.
Wednesday night’s 3-3 thriller at home to Genoa was enough to take them past their previous record points tally at this stage of a season (14, set in 1999/2000).
