Struggling Serie A side Torino will be hoping that 2021 brings them more joy when they travel to Parma on Sunday.

Il Toro are currently rock bottom of the league table, while I Crociati sit two points above the relegation zone in 16th place.

Match preview

Torino will not look back too fondly on 2020 as they won just six league games and went through three permanent managers.

Moreno Longo replaced Walter Mazzarri in February, before Marco Giampaolo took charge in the summer, but the 53-year-old has overseen a terrible start to the campaign, and Il Toro are currently three points adrift of safety.

It is perhaps a surprise that that gap is not more as Torino have failed to win any of their last eight games, with their only league victory this season coming at the start of November against Genoa.

However, they came incredibly close to taking all three points off Napoli in their last game, going 1-0 in front through Armando Izzo before Lorenzo Insigne equalised in the 92nd minute.

Scoring goals is not a particular issue for Giampaolo's side – their tally of 22 is more than half of the rest of Serie A and they have netted in all but two games – largely thanks to the exploits of Andrea Belotti, who ranks fourth in the league's scoring charts.

However, they have conceded the most in the division (32) and only kept one clean sheet – against fellow strugglers and lowest scorers Crotone.

Parma sit alongside Crotone at the bottom of the scoring charts, having netted just 13 times this season, while top scorer Gervinho is being linked with a move to Inter Milan in January.

They actually lost 2-1 to Crotone in their previous game and have not won any of their last five matches.

Fabio Liverani's team have only one home victory to their name this season and that came at the start of October against Hellas Verona; Juventus were the most recent visitors to Stadio Ennio Tardini and emerged 4-0 winners.

To give I Crociati some credit, that was their first defeat in six home matches, while they have also drawn their away games against the two Milan clubs; they are in fact Serie A's draw specialists, with six of their 14 games ending level so far.

Parma have only lost two of their last 16 meetings with Torino, with both of those defeats coming in the 2014-15 season that ended in relegation for the Emilia-Romagna based outfit.

Parma Serie A form: WDDDLL

Torino Serie A form: DLLLDD

Team News

Juan Brunetta put in a strong performance off the bench against Crotone as he assisted Juraj Kucka's goal, so could earn his first league start of the season.

Liverani must choose between Andreas Cornelius or Roberto Inglese upfront, but neither of the strikers have scored so far this season. Gervinho, meanwhile, is expected to miss a second game in a row through injury.

Fringe players Vincent Laurini and Matteo Scozzarella should be available again after recent injuries.

Lyanco will return from suspension for Torino, meaning young centre-back Alessandro Buongiorno is expected to drop out of the side.

Simone Verdi is likely to keep his place upfront over Simone Zaza, but both players only have one Serie A goal to their name this season so the search for a consistent partner to Andrea Belotti continues.

Federico Bonazzoli may take that role when he returns from injury, but he is still at least a week away from full fitness.

Parma possible starting lineup:
Sepe; Busi, Osorio, Alves, Gagliolo; Kucka, Hernani, Kurtic; Karamoh, Brunetta; Cornelius

Torino possible starting lineup:
Sirigu; Izzo, Lyanco, Bremer; Singo, Lukic, Rincon, Linetty, Rodriguez; Verdi, Belotti

We say: Parma 1-2 Torino

This is an interesting battle as Serie A's joint lowest scorers host the weakest defence in the league. Both clubs are in desperate need of a victory having not won since November, and we think that Torino might just snatch all three points, having shown promise against Napoli before Christmas.

Top betting tip

Previews by email