Separated by just one point in the Serie A standings, on Tuesday night Juventus and city rivals Torino play out the 156th Derby della Mole in Italy’s top flight.

Juve’s dramatic points deduction sees their lead over Il Toro down to the slimmest of margins, but recent results suggest they can still finish ‘best of the rest’ behind the league’s distant top six and target some cup success.

Setting themselves up perfectly for the latest Turin derby – in which their old foes sit unusually and uncomfortably close at this stage of the season – Juventus have won five of their last six games for the concession of just one breakaway goal.

A scintillating counter-attack by Nantes brought about that single strike for their opponents since the 2-0 defeat to Monza last month, but Max Allegri’s men recovered from that setback in the first leg of the teams’ Europa League playoff to win 3-0 on Thursday and reach the last 16.

It must have felt like a long weekend for Juventus, who have had to watch all of their fellow European challengers play before them whilst they prepare for the 156th Derby della Molle in Serie A (SA).

Juventus should at least come into this game on a high after their 3-0 midweek UEFA Europa League victory against Nantes was enough to see them advance to the last 16, a result which alleviated some building pressure on manager Massimiliano Allegri.

Allegri’s men can reasonably be expected to ease more pressure on their boss against a Torino side they have beaten in 24 of the last 33 SA H2Hs (D8, L1). Not only is a victory crucial to Allegri’s job prospects, but it is also imperative to Juventus’ chances of a top-six finish after their points deduction left them no fewer than nine points adrift of the European places ahead of the round.

By the time kick-off comes, it will have been more than a week since Torino last took to the pitch, but fresh legs may not be enough to counteract the psychological scars of a 2-2 home draw against a winless Cremonese. Things won’t get any easier in this derby clash, especially when it’s Torino doing the travelling as they haven’t won any H2H as the designated away side since April 1995!

Winning away from home is a problem that has plagued Torino for quite a while now, with just two victories from their last ten SA road trips (D3, L5). Whilst their away games haven’t proved fruitful for points, they have proved entertaining for the neutral, with Torino witnessing both teams score in a joint-league high nine SA away games this term.

Players to watch: Dušan Vlahović scored the winner in Juventus’ 1-0 win in the reverse fixture and could become just the fourth player since 1995/96 to score in both Turin derbies in a single SA season.

Torino’s Antonio Sanabria is out for a little record of his own too, needing just one more goal to match his best-ever SA scoring season of six goals.

Hot stat: Eight of the last nine SA Turin derbies have seen Juventus score on or beyond the 70th minute.

Juventus Serie A form:

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Juventus form (all competitions):

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Torino Serie A form:

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Torino form (all competitions):

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Juventus possible starting lineup:

Szczesny; Danilo, Bremer, Sandro; Cuadrado, Fagioli, Paredes, Rabiot, Kostic; Di Maria; Vlahovic

Torino possible starting lineup:

Milinkovic-Savic; Djidji, Schuurs, Buongiorno; Singo, Ilic, Adopo, Vojvoda; Miranchuk, Radonjic; Sanabria

Juventus to win FT & over 1.5 goals

Juventus certainly know how to keep things tight at the back, while their city rivals are far from prolific up front. Having also lost only one of their last 33 matches against Torino in the top flight – and none since April 2015 – the Old Lady should reign supreme in Turin once again.