Torino vs. Inter Milan preview: Inter looking to get back amongst the points

After being tipped by many to face the drop last season, Torino confounded expectations by actually occasionally playing some quite decent football and securing their status with a couple of matches to spare, driven on by the sterling Alessio Cerci, himself forcing his way into the Azzurri setup. They have started this season in rather a similar fashion to how they went through the last, beating Sassuolo and recording an impressive away win over Bologna and recording draws with Milan, Hellas Verona and Sampdoria. The blot on the copybook is the 1-0 home derby loss to Juventus however the side performed admirably in defeat and the fans of the Granata will already be confident of survival. The last time these two sides met was in a San Siro stunner in January, as two goals from Riccardo Meggiorini nearly gave Torino all of the points before Esteban Cambiasso rescued Inter's blushes. That match came as part of a seven-game unbeaten stretch that virtually secured Torino's place in the top flight this season, whilst it spelt the beginning of Inter's dreadful second half of the season where they slipped from third in the table to ninth.

Inter's start under Walter Mazzarri showed many promising signs, with his tried-and-true 3-5-2 appearing to suit the group of players at his disposal and some wonderful displays from Jonathan and Ricky Alvarez, two players who had flattered to deceive under the previous regime. The results were favourable too, a draw in the Derby d'Italia with Juventus, victory over a classy Fiorentina side and a 7-0 demolition of new boys Sassuolo which all pleased the Nerazzuri faithful pining for a return to the glory days of Mancini and Mourinho. Things went slightly awry in their last match however as they met a similarly buoyed Roma, who under the tutelage of Rudi Garcia had not dropped a single point. In the end, Inter were outclassed and three first-half goals consigned them to their first defeat of the season. Mazzarri will not want to let the side get into a habit of losing and the best way of doing that is to go out and win convincingly to show that the loss of their unbeaten record hasn't affected them. Whether they are allowed to do this will depend on how Torino feel like playing, as the side that lost to Atalanta or as the side that beat Bologna and gained a draw with AC Milan.

Torino have something of a crisis in defence with Kamil Glik suspended and Guillermo Rodriguez, Cesare Bovo and goalkeeper Jean-Francois Gillet all injured. Inter still have some wounds from last season showing however Javier Zanetti returned to light training in midweek. Diego Milito looks as if he will miss out after returning from his own long-term injury problems.

Out: Cesare Bovo, Guillermo Rodriguez, Marcelo Larrondo, Jean-Francois Gillet (injured); Kamil Glik (suspended). In doubt: Nikola Maksimovic, Migjen Basha, Omar El Kaddouri.

Out: Javier Zanetti, Cristian Chivu, McDonald Mariga, Diego Milito (injured). In doubt: Jonathan, Ricky Alvarez.

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