Torino and Udinese chase first real momentum in mirrored back-three duel
Ignazio Abate starts Giovanni Simeone and Che Adams together as Torino host Udinese, who leave free-agent signing David Alaba on the bench for a Round 6 closer between two sides stuck on four points.
Ignazio Abate has gone with two strikers rather than one, pairing Giovanni Simeone and Che Adams up top as Torino host Udinese to close out Serie A's sixth round, according to Football Italia.
The headline absence is at the other end of the pitch. David Alaba, who told reporters last week he felt ready to make his Serie A debut after arriving as a free agent from Real Madrid, is not in Kosta Runjaic's starting eleven.
Both clubs arrive with four points from five matches, a return that explains why Abate and Runjaic have gone for contrasting but structurally related solutions at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino.
Two back threes, two different attacking problems
Torino line up in a 3-5-2, with Pietro Comuzzo, Coco and Ricardo Rodriguez forming the back three and Rolando Mandragora holding the centre of midfield between Gaetano Oristanio and Bragança. Belghali and Alessio Cacciamani take the wing-back berths, which is where the home side's width has to come from given that both strikers play centrally.
Udinese counter with a 3-4-2-1. Unai Gomez leads the line alone, with Ekkelenkamp and Chakvetadze operating just behind him rather than out wide. That shape pushes Udinese's width onto wing-backs Vojvoda and Kamara, mirroring Torino's own reliance on its flank players for attacking depth.
The practical effect is that neither side's front players are built to stretch the pitch horizontally. Torino's Simeone-Adams pairing and Udinese's Ekkelenkamp-Chakvetadze double behind Gomez are both designed to work in central and half-space areas, which means the contest out wide between the two sets of wing-backs is likely to decide how much room either forward line actually gets.
That also places a heavier burden on the double pivot areas. Mandragora sitting at the base of Torino's midfield three will need Oristanio and Bragança to shuttle wide when Belghali and Cacciamani push on, since Udinese's Karlstrom and Zarraga occupy the equivalent zone centrally for the visitors.
Why Alaba waits
Runjaic has opted for continuity at the back rather than inserting his most prominent summer arrival straight away, keeping faith with the trio of Abankwah, Oumar Solet and Ebosse that has started the season. Alaba's omission comes despite his own public confidence about being ready, as relayed by Football Italia, and leaves the Austrian to watch from the bench in a match his side cannot afford to lose if it wants to move away from the bottom half of the points table.
The decision is notable given Udinese's defensive numbers this season. Their recent matches have included a 5-3 loss to Inter, alongside narrower defeats to Cagliari and Lazio and a win over Monza, a pattern that suggests the back three has been breached regularly even before facing a Torino side with two recognised strikers to occupy it.
Form lines that explain the stakes
Torino's last five league outings have brought a 1-1 draw with Bologna, a 0-2 loss to Roma, a win at Fiorentina, and defeats to Sassuolo and Milan, a sequence that has produced goals but little consistency. Abate's choice to start both Simeone and Adams together looks like a direct response to that, prioritising goal threat over defensive solidity in a game both teams need.
Udinese's recent record follows a similar shape: a draw with Como, a win over Monza, and defeats to Lazio, Inter and Cagliari. Four points from five games for each side means Round 6 offers a rare chance to pull clear of the opening-month stagnation that has defined both campaigns so far.
With kick-off set for 20:45 CET at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino, the shape of the opening exchanges, and specifically which set of wing-backs wins the territorial battle out wide, is likely to determine whether either side's front players ever get the service their respective systems are built to provide.