Spezia – Torino

Torino will not indulge Spezia

Four points from the last two fixtures allowed La Spezia to climb out of the relegation zone. They sit 17th, two points behind Lecce and one ahead of Verona. Another plus for the Ligurians is the statistics of their head-to-head encounters with Hellas. So, if the teams score the same number of points, it will be the Eagles who will come out on top. It is worth recalling that La Spezia defeated the Mastiffs in the first leg, before sharing points in the second leg. Last time round Marco Baroni's side were held scoreless at 0-0 with Lecce. That was a logical scoreline in a very low-scoring game. Before that, the Eagles sensationally thrashed Milan thanks to goals from Wisniewski and Esposito. It was possible, though, thanks to the rossoneri's busy schedule: the game was held in the same period as Stefano Pioli's men's UEFA Champions League semi-final tie. The previous results for La Spezia confirm the fortuitousness of their success against the Devils. Prior to that, the Ligurians had failed to win eight games, five of them by defeat. In that period, only matches against Salernitana, Fiorentina, and Sampdoria ended in a tie. "The Fiallas, by the way, were also on a tight calendar. Unimpressive. Torino have not lost in four rounds. In this stretch, Ivan Djuric's side have beaten Sampdoria and Verona, as well as sharing points with the Florentines and Monza. They could potentially climb to eighth or relegate to 13th. Ivan Juric, however, has shown that he will not be "drying out" the rest of the season. The recent victory over Verona, who are struggling for survival, was telling in this regard. For the entire league season, La Spezia have only secured four wins at the Alberto Picco. At the same time, Torino are sitting in fourth place in the away standings. The Bulls have won eight games and drawn four. At the same time, Ivan Djuric's charges have won four of their last five away games, with the fifth game featuring a point sharing. Wins were recorded against Verona (0-1), Sampdoria (0-2), Lazio (0-1) and Lecce (0-2). Tellingly, the Turin side have beaten all of Spezia's neighbours in the standings. There is no good reason why the Bulls should concede now. Despite the importance of the match for the hosts, they are unlikely to find the strength to take three points.