Torino-Lecce Preview

By: bingitz2002 | August 30th, 2008

After months of anticipation, transfer dealings, and meaningless friendlies, the time has finally come for Serie A to kick off. While we will see Udinese host Palermo and Sampdoria host Inter in two exciting matches on Saturday, Sunday will be the moment we Toro fans have all been waiting for. Will our team perform after a questionable (but admittedly not finished) mercato? Can we score some goals now that Amoruso and Bianchi are in the fold? Can we start our season off strong after two poor starts in a row? These are some of the questions that will be hanging over the heads of Cairo, Pederzoli, De Biasi, et al as the ball gets rolling at the Olimpico.

Our Opponents

Lecce have returned to Serie A after a two-year stint in the cadetto. Coached by survival specialist Mario Berretta, who has managed to keep up Siena two seasons in a row, Lecce will be looking for a win in what some call a potential relegation fight. Although they have reinforced with the loans of Daniele Cacia and Roma youngster Antunes, the salentini haven’t done too well in the transfer market and are among the favorites to go down. They seem far from the side that sported the talents of Valeri Bojinov and Mirko Vucinic just four years ago. Nonetheless, they are a determined side with strong players and will be looking to take advantage of our penchant for being slow out of the gates, so we will have to be ready for them.

Toro-Lecce Connections

Toro have a very close recent history of sharing players with Lecce. First off, current Lecce players Simone Tiribocchi and Andrea Ardito are former Toro players, with Ardito having helped gain promotion in Cairo’s first year. Ardito, however, will not be featuring in the match due to accumulation of yellow cards and has expressed his displeasure at that. Toro striker Elvis Abbruscato, who is poised to leave Toro in search of first-team football at another Serie A club (Genoa, Reggina, Catania, Atalanta) played a crucial role in Lecce’s promotion from Serie B. Also possibly taking the pitch is forward Axel Konan, who played with Toro for two seasons before moving to Lecce. Konan could make a surprise appearance after being laid off by injury for a number of months. As for the head-to-head, the teams have met 21 times in total, with Torino emerging the victors ten times and Lecce five times, with six draws. The last edition of this tie and the last meeting between these two teams was in Serie A on April 12, 2001. The game ended 1-1 with Jose Maria Franco Ramallo netting for Toro and Gheorghe Popescu for Lecce.

Probable Formations

These are the probable formations according to Corriere dello Sport:

Torino

————–Bianchi
———Amoruso-Rosina
——Säumel-Corini-Zanetti
Pisano-Di Loreto-Pratali-Diana
—————-Sereni

Bench: Calderoni, Colombo, Ogbonna, Barone, Malonga, Abbruscato, Stellone

Lecce

———-Cacia-Tiribocchi
—–Ariatti-Giacomazzi-Munari
————–Caserta
Giuliato-Esposito-Diamoutene-Angelo
————–Benussi

Bench: Rosati, Antunes, Schiavi, Vives, Konan, Feltscher, Castillo

Key Players

Torino: Rolando Bianchi

The new acquisition from Manchester City will be looking to prove himself on Sunday as the savior for Toro’s goalscoring woes. Despite a tough spell at Manchester City and an average performance at Lazio, Bianchi was lethal for Reggina in the 2006-2007 season with 18 goals alongside his current teammate Nicola Amoruso, who had 17. Bianchi got off to a goalscoring start, scoring in the 9-1 demolition of Eccellenza side Asti on Thursday and will be looking to replicate, albiet against a much tougher opponent. His aerial power and touch make him an ideal target for Alessandro Rosina to play the balls too, assume the fantasista will pass the ball.

Other players to watch: Nicolas Amoruso, Alessandro Rosina, Aimo Diana

Lecce: Daniele Cacia

The young and powerful striker, half owned by Fiorentina will be looking to prove himself in Serie A after solid spells as Piacenza and Pistoise. He has a formidable goalscoring record in the lower divisions and is considered one of Italy’s top striking talents. Our defense will have to be on alert though we can take away alot of his power by cutting off his supply as he thrives on good support.

Other players to watch: Simone Tiribocchi, Guillermo Giacomazzi, Fabio Caserta

My Thoughts

This is a game Toro must win if they are to aspire to higher things than relegation this term. Furthermore, a win will give us the good start to the season that we have missed since our return to Serie A. We are the bookies’ favorites by a fairly large margin although Lecce are hungry for success after returning to Serie A and will be looking to get all they can in a potential relegation battle. If our team clicks together well in the first half we should have a good shot at winning this, though if we concede an early goal we will be psychologically damaged. Our strikers should be good enough to overcome a relatively weak defense though we will have to watch out for the Lecce attack as they can create some good chances for Cacia. My prediction is a 2-1 Toro win, Amoruso and Rosina for Toro, Tiribocchi for Lecce.

(Alessandro Rosina, Nicola Amoruso, Eugenio Corini)

Daniele Cacia
(Fabio Caserta, Simone Tiribocchi, Guillermo Giacomazzi)