Sitting side-by-side in the Serie A standings, Torino and Frosinone will meet in the Coppa Italia second round on Thursday evening.

While Toro are five-time Coppa winners but have not lifted the trophy since 1993, their opponents - who threw away three points last time out in the league - have rarely progressed past the opening rounds.

Match preview

Desperate for a goal after four straight games without finding the net, Torino travelled down to Lecce at the weekend with the task of ending a month-long drought upmost in their minds.

Duvan Zapata's strike against Roma in late September was the last time Toro had scored before Saturday's Serie A clash with Lecce, in which Italy defender Alessandro Buongiorno produced what turned out to be the winner shortly before half time at Stadio Via del Mare.

The Granata sit 13th in the table as a result - one place behind Frosinone by virtue of an inferior goal difference - and Croatian coach Ivan Juric will be keen to build momentum by quickly adding two more wins.

Ahead of Monday's league game against Sassuolo, Juric sends his team out for a home cup tie with the prize of a last-16 meeting with Scudetto-holders Napoli at stake.

Eliminating Milan along the way, Torino made it to the Coppa quarter-finals last season, before being knocked out by Fiorentina, and they started this term's campaign with a 2-1 win over little FeralpiSalo back in August, when Ivan Ilic scored late on to secure a 2-1 victory.

While Thursday's hosts have struggled for goals of late, Frosinone have certainly had no such problem since returning to Italy's top flight as Serie B champions, averaging 1.5 per game in their first 10 league matches.

Indeed, partly thanks to more brilliance from Juventus loanee Matias Soule, the Canarini went three goals up in Cagliari last weekend - but even though they still led 3-0 after 71 minutes, that did not prove enough to pick up even a point.

Coach Eusebio Di Francesco watched on in horror as his team imploded and fellow promoted club Cagliari roared back into contention: conceding twice deep into stoppage time and then having a shot cleared off the line condemned Frosinone to an embarrassing 4-3 defeat.

Something of a trend has emerged, as the Lazio-based club have gone winless through their first five away fixtures and are clearly more vulnerable away from the home comforts of Stadio Stirpe.

Nonetheless, Di Francesco's young squad have enjoyed a promising start to life amid the elite and sit safely in mid-table ahead of their midweek Coppa Italia contest, which they set up by beating Pisa 1-0 in the first round.

Team News

Ahead of Monday's game against Sassuolo, Torino boss Ivan Juric may make a number of changes to his starting XI in midweek, with forward duo Antonio Sanabria and Pietro Pellegri among several players potentially rested.

Colombian striker Duvan Zapata could therefore return to the hosts' lineup, alongside Adrien Tameze and David Zima.

Long-term absentee Perr Schuurs joins fellow defender Koffi Djidji and wing-back Brandon Soppy on the sidelines, but Nikola Vlasic should be involved after missing the trip to Lecce.

Meanwhile, Frosinone will most likely respond to such a shocking collapse on Sunday by rotating their resources in Turin: most notably, captain Luca Mazzitelli should return after serving a suspension, and Napoli-owned Walid Cheddira may displace Marvin Cuni up front.

Abdou Harroui (foot) and Francesco Gelli (muscular) remain ruled out by injury, but Eusebio Di Francesco will have most of his squad available.

Torino possible starting lineup:
Gemello; Zima, Buongiorno, Rodriguez; Bellanova, Ricci, Tameze, Vojvoda; Vlasic, Karamoh; Zapata

Frosinone possible starting lineup:
Cerofolini; Oyono, Romagnoli, Okoli, Marchizza; Mazzitelli, Brescianini, Bourabia; Baez, Cheddira, Kvernadze

We say: Torino 1-0 Frosinone

As Torino have lost just once in six home games this term, while Frosinone remain winless on the road, the home side should prevail and progress to the last 16. Toro rarely score more than once, but that could be enough to quieten the Canarini on Thursday.


For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Previews by email