Serie A Preview: Torino vs Milan – Team News, Lineups & Prediction | OneFootball

Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino forms the backdrop for a high-stakes Serie A day-one clash between Torino and Milan. Both sides start the 2026/27 season with new coaches in the dugouts, adding an extra layer of intrigue to an already mouth-watering encounter.

Mid-table finishes have become a common theme in Turin, but it’s worth noting that they’ve finished in the upper half of the table just once since the 2018/19 season. Desperate to buck that trend, Torino replaced Roberto D’Aversa with Ignazio Abate at the start of the summer.

Abate, who made over 300 appearances for Milan as a player, started his managerial career at San Siro, coaching the club’s youth teams. After two decent seasons at Ternana and Juve Stabia, the 39-year-old gears up for his touchline debut in Serie A against his former side.

Upsetting the apple cart against one of the outside Scudetto contenders would be a perfect start for Abate, but the visitors arrive in Turin with plenty to prove themselves after another disappointing campaign. Even without the distraction of European football, Milan failed to secure a top-four finish last season.

Massimiliano Allegri’s side shockingly lost to Cagliari on home turf in the final round, allowing Como to seize the final Champions League spot. Allegri paid the ultimate price at the end of the season, with the Rossoneri appointing Ruben Amorim as his successor, hoping he could be the man to turn their fortunes around.

Match Preview

Torino

Tired of fighting in Serie A’s lower reaches, Torino have been busy this summer. Pietro Comuzzo and Gaetano Oristanio have joined the club on loan from Fiorentina and Venezia, respectively. Swiss defender Eray Comert has arrived from Valencia as a replacement for long-serving stalwart Guillermo Maripan, who left for Internacional.

Giovanni Simeone, who established himself as Torino’s most reliable attacking outlet last season, has completed a permanent transfer from Napoli. Moreover, the Argentine scored the winning goal in a narrow 1-0 victory over second-tier Carrarese in the opening Coppa Italia round last weekend.

Simeone’s goal inspired Abate to a much-needed win in his first official game in charge of Torino, who carry a six-game unbeaten home league run into the new season (W4, D2). However, the Granata’s only day-one win against a Milanese club came in 1939, underlining the size of the task awaiting Abate this weekend.

Milan

Eager to make a statement at the start of the new season, Milan can draw confidence from their recent Serie A record against Torino. The Rossoneri won both league clashes last term by the same 3-2 scoreline, while they’ve lost just twice in their seven most recent encounters against this opposition (W4, D1).

After a dreadful spell at Manchester United, Amorim is keen to rebuild his reputation in Serie A, and the Milan chiefs have set him up to succeed. Goncalo Ramos, Mario Gila, and Diego Moreira have joined the club for a combined fee of nearly €100 million, with the Rossoneri expected to offload Rafael Leao in the final days of the summer.

Ramos is likely to lead the line on Sunday as Amorim bids to become the first foreign manager to win his first season opener in charge of Milan since Leonardo in 2009. However, the visitors fared terribly on the road toward the end of last season, losing three of their final five away league matches (W2).

Team News

Former Ajax midfielder Kian Fitz-Jim is in line for his Serie A debut, just like Comert, who’s likely to have a prominent role in Abate’s setup this season. Simeone should have a guaranteed starting berth in attack ahead of Torino captain Duvan Zapata and Croatian striker Sandro Kulenovic, who has signed a permanent deal in Turin after a short-term loan last term.

Meanwhile, Amorim has put Youssouf Fofana, Fikayo Tomori, Santiago Gimenez, and Christopher Nkunku on the chopping block. Therefore, they won’t be in contention tomorrow, unlike Moreira and Gila, who could make their Milan debuts in Turin. With Christian Pulisic struggling with an injury, Alexis Saelemaekers could line up alongside Ruben Loftus-Cheek behind Ramos.

Torino vs Milan Potential Starting Lineups

Torino (3-4-2-1): Mascardi; Comuzzo, Comert, Coco; Pedersen, Fitz-Jim, Gineitis, Cacciamani; Vlasic, Casadei; Simeone.

Milan (3-4-2-1): Maignan; De Winter, Gila, Pavlovic; Chukwueze, Modric, Rabiot, Bartesaghi; Loftus-Cheek, Saelemaekers; Ramos.

Torino vs Milan Prediction

Apart from a 4-2 win over Man Utd in their final warm-up fixture, Milan endured a rough pre-season. Draws against Celtic and Inter, coupled with a thumping 3-0 loss to Chelsea, highlighted the work still awaiting Amorim as he looks to reshape the Rossoneri in his image.

Like Milan, Abate’s Torino is still a work in progress, though the hosts can take confidence from their strong home form from the tail-end of last season. Still, Milan’s superior individual quality should make the difference in what could be a closely fought contest.