A duel between a team under pressure to avoid relegation and another with latent aspirations opens the 2026 Serie A calendar on Sunday at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi, when Verona and Torino face each other. Paolo Zanetti’s team is in 18th place in the table with 12 points, two points behind Genoa and only one ahead of Pisa, so the gap to the relegation zone is minimal. Marco Baroni’s Torino are 13th in the table with 20 points, sandwiched between Cremonese and Cagliari, and both teams have to cope with significant absences, including Belghali, Suslov, Coco, Masina, Schuurs, and Savva. Both teams are also coming off disappointing results in Matchday 17: Verona lost 3-0 away to Milan, following two recent victories in Serie A with two defeats, while Torino stumbled 2-1 at home to Cagliari after previously defeating Cremonese and Sassuolo, once again failing to convert their superiority in shots into points. Historically, the matchup clearly favors Torino, who have won three and drawn two of the last five direct encounters, most recently a 1-1 draw at home in April. Verona have yet to win during this period and have struggled to assert themselves, especially at the start of games.
- Venue: Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi, Verona
- Date and time: January 4, 2026, 6:00 p.m.
- Competition: Serie A (Matchday 18)
The bookmakers have Verona at 2.6, Torino at 2.9 and a draw at 3.0, so the market looks balanced. However, our assessment leans slightly towards the hosts, as their recent home wins against Fiorentina and Atalanta and an 80% scoring rate are up against a Torino side missing Coco, Masina and Schuurs. In this context, the tips Verona to win, Over 2.5 goals and Both teams to score: Yes make a coherent package, especially as Vlašić is in strong form and the open 1-2 defeat against Cagliari showed how vulnerable Torino can be in intense games.
Verona Form & Record Check
Verona goes into this game in inconsistent form in the league. The team was competitive but lost narrowly 2-1 at home to Parma and away to Genoa, then improved impressively with a 3-1 win over Atalanta and a 2-1 away win at Fiorentina, before the momentum came to an abrupt halt in Milan with a 3-0 defeat that once again exposed familiar defensive problems. Interestingly, the statistical pattern clearly shows that Verona has not drawn in its last five league games, scoring in four of those games but conceding goals in all five. Each of these games ended with more than 2.5 goals, there were no wins in the second half, and goals were conceded after the break in every game, suggesting a lack of concentration or physical decline in the latter stages. Verona is in 18th place in the table with 12 points, two behind Genoa and only one ahead of Pisa, so the gap to the relegation zone remains small. Zanetti has to do without Belghali in defense and the long-term absence of Suslov in midfield, which limits his rotation options, so stability could now take precedence over overly open duels.
Verona are expected to line up in a 3-5-1-1 under Zanetti, at least in our prediction, with Montipò in goal behind a back three of Núñez, Nelsson, and Bella-Kotchap. Oyegoke and Bradarić are expected to provide width as wingbacks, while Niasse, Al-Musrati, and Bernede give the midfield a solid, physically strong center that works hard against the ball. Giovane is likely to support center forward Mosquera as a deep-lying striker. In this scenario, Verona will once again be without Belghali, who is away on international duty, and creative midfielder Suslov, who is out with a knee ligament injury, which slightly reduces their options on the wings and between the lines. Therefore, influential players such as Harroui, Gagliardini, Kastanos, or forwards Orban and Sarr are more likely to come off the bench as tactical wild cards. This is still a predicted starting lineup and not a confirmed one.
Turin Form & Record Check
Turin travels to Verona with a mixed Serie A record, with three defeats and two hard-fought victories in their last five games. Their most recent outing was a 2-1 home defeat to Cagliari, in which an early goal by Vlašić was disallowed before the hour mark, a setback that halted a small upward trend following narrow victories over Cremonese and Sassuolo. In that defeat, Torino showed uncharacteristic weaknesses in front of goal, even though the team had significantly more shots, forced Caprile into several saves, and had a late volley from Ngonge disallowed. This picture fits a recurring pattern: Torino consistently creates enough chances to score and has found the net in each of its last five league games, but small details continue to decide close matches. The two most recent victories painted a different picture: Torino kept clean sheets against Cremonese and Sassuolo and defended narrow one-goal leads with more control after the break. Current data suggests that Baroni’s team often concede few goals in the second half, which suggests more cautious game management after taking the lead, but this can sometimes turn into passive defending. Baroni continues to search for the right balance. The decision to play Simeone alongside Adams and rely on Vlašić’s form brings plenty of attacking power, but the absences of Masina and Coco, while Schuurs is already missing, have thinned out the defense. The table reflects this tension, with Turin in 13th place with 20 points, just one point behind Cremonese and two ahead of Cagliari.
In our predicted lineup for Baroni’s team, Torino are likely to stick with a 3-4-1-2, with Paleari in goal, Ismajli, Maripán, and Sazonov as the back three, Pedersen and Lazaro on the wings, and Asllani and Gineitis in midfield. In front of them, Vlašić, fresh from scoring five goals in his last six Serie A games, will play behind the strike duo of Adams and Simeone, essentially maintaining the system used against Cagliari. However, this remains a prediction, as Baroni has several absences to manage: Coco and Masina are still unavailable due to international duty, while Schuurs and Savva are out with long-term injuries, which limits rotation in defense and could once again benefit the trio of Ismajli, Maripán, and Sazonov. Further forward, the current form of Vlašić and Adams suggests that they are unlikely to be rested, even though Zapata and Ngonge are genuine alternatives.
Verona – Turin Head-to-head & statistics
Turin has had clear control over the last five head-to-head encounters, with three wins and two draws, while Verona has not recorded a single victory. The most recent match in April 2025 ended 1-1 in Turin, after Turin had won three and drawn one of the previous four encounters, so the balance of power is clearly in favor of the visitors at this stage. Home advantage at the Bentegodi has not helped Verona so far, with all three of their most recent league matches against Turin at their own stadium ending in defeat, in 2023 and twice in 2024, each time by a single goal. Turin’s away record in this mini-series is perfect, with six goals scored and three conceded, giving the visitors a noticeable psychological advantage when traveling to Verona. In terms of scoring patterns, these games tend to be close, with only one of the five encounters producing more than three goals in total. Four of the five games saw no more than one goal in the first half, and between 2023 and 2024 there was a run of three games that all ended with fewer than four goals, underlining how cautious this fixture usually is. Turin has scored in four of the five encounters and has never lost in this sequence, while Verona has only been successful four times and has failed to keep a clean sheet in four cases. The second halves were often evenly matched, so the difference was more a result of small details than clear dominance.
