Game Time Thread: Juventus vs. Torino

Juventus has 90 or so minutes to go before another international break arrives. And for the better part of the last two weeks, there’s been reason for optimism that this team might be showing some signs of getting out the rut it was in during the early weeks of the 2021-22 season. Optimism, cautious optimism. Not a lot, but a little bit.

And that’s not a bad thing.

But it’s also a case of not getting too far ahead of ourselves — especially after Juventus’ last game involved beating the defending champions of Europe at their own game. As much as a win like that over an opponent like that can fuel some happy thoughts about where this team might be headed, getting carried away is not exactly the best thing for you health and happiness. Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen Juventus start and stop, start and stop, and then start and stop just for good measure.

Wednesday night’s win is definitely a point in the schedule that could very well be the start of something really, really good a month or two from now. But, to get to that point and feel better about things as compared to when Juve went into the first international break, a win in tonight’s Derby della Mole — and a good performance on top of that — is that only thing that will keep the steps going forward.

Juventus and Torino enter tonight’s derby even in the standings, with Toro’s goal differential being the only thing that sets them apart. (How weird is it to be sitting here at this stage of the season and see Torino both ahead of Juventus and have a much better goal differential, by the way?) Yeah, I don’t get it, either. Welcome to 2021, folks.) With so many clubs above Juve in the standings facing one another this weekend, there’s the very real possibility of some major shaking up going on before we head into another international break.

It sure would be nice to sit back on Sunday and watch the rest of the madness happen after a Juventus win in the first Turin derby of the season.

Now, about all that ... we’re going to soon find out if it will be a good Sunday or not.

MATCH INFO

When: Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021

Where: Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino, Turin, Italy.

Official kickoff time: 6 p.m. local time in Italy and across Europe; 5 p.m. in the United Kingdom; 12 p.m. Eastern Time; 9 a.m. Pacific Time.

STARTING LINEUPS

Juventus starting XI (4-4-2): Szczesny; Danilo, de Ligt, Chiellini, Alex Sandro; Bernardeschi, McKennie, Locatelli, Rabiot; Chiesa, Kean.

Juventus bench: Pinsoglio, Perin, De Sciglio, Cuadrado, Pellegrini, Bonucci, Rugani, Arthur, Bentancur, Kulusevski, Kaio Jorge.

Torino starting XI (3-4-2-1): V. Milinkovic-Savic; Zima, Bremer, Rodriguez; Singo, Lukic, Mandragora, Aina; Pobega, Brekalo; Sanabria.

HOW TO WATCH

Television: BT Sport ESPN (United Kingdom).

Online/mobile: Paramount+ (United States); DAZN (Canada); BTSport.com, BT Sport App (United Kingdom); DAZN (Italy).

Other live viewing options can be found here, and as always, you can also follow along with us live and all the stupid things we say on Twitter. If you haven’t already, join the community on Black & White & Read All Over, and join in the discussion below.