The new Serie A season is kicking off with Juventus looking to claim an incredible eighth consecutive title.
Although Napoli challenged their dominance last season, we've still got the Old Lady as the favourite to win at outright odds of 1.4. Let's take a look at this season's contenders.
Juventus
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Juventus will go into Serie A as favourites once again, set on both defending their title and achieving new milestones. The Old Lady suffered only three defeats in the entirety of their last campaign, finishing six points above Napoli.
Manager Massimiliano Allegri will be looking to strengthen his backline with Giorgio Chiellini approaching the end of his career. Juventus will also be keen to add another forward player to share the burden of goals with Gonzalo Higuain. Paolo Dybala and Miralem Pjanic remain pivotal to the Turin club and are likely to ignore offers from other clubs. Juventus will once again be the team to beat.
Napoli
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Although Napoli performed admirably last season, they couldn't quite close the gap with Juventus in the closing stages of the league. Despite claiming 28 wins and amassing 91 points, they still ended the season six points behind.
Although Napoli have parted company with Mauricio Sarri, they will be guided by the experience of former AC Milan and Real Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti. Ancelotti comes with huge experience in Italian football having previously won the Scudetto with Milan. His first piece of business will be to ensure that key players such as Marek Hamsik, Dries Mertens, Lorenzo Insigne and Jose Callejon remain at the club.
Roma
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Prior to the start of the last season, the Romans were considered the best title contenders to go toe-to-toe with Juve for the title. Their campaign however, proved disappointing as they finished a full 14 points behind the top two teams.
The Giallorossi have historically been plagued by inconsistency and this has kept them from ever truly putting up a proper fight for the title. They have had the same problems over the years with their leaky rearguard letting them down at critical moments.
Having been guilty of selling their best players every summer, Roma will be keen to go into the season with the core of their players still in the team. As always Edin Dzeko, Cengiz Under, Patrick Schick, Radja Nainggolan and Daniele De Rossi will be key.
Inter Milan
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Inter finally emerged from mediocrity to qualify for next season’s Champions League. Their season was built on a solid home form which saw them lose only three times in front of their fans.
With Mauro Icardi, Ivan Perisic and Antonio Candreva still in the side they will continue to trouble the big clubs. They may be more interested in cementing their place as a top four side than looking to challenge Juventus.
Lazio
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Lazio only just missed out on a Champions League place after losing against Inter Milan on the final day of the season. Despite claiming numerous scalps during the campaign, they ended the season in fifth place to earn a Europa League slot.
Lazio will be banking on Ciro Immobile once again after the striker ended the season as top scorer with 28 goals. There is however a telling lack of quality in the squad, and with Sergei Milinkovic-Savic and Felipe Anderson both linked with moves away they could settle for a Europa League place once again.
AC Milan
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Despite having so much promise at the start of the season AC Milan went on to have a disappointing campaign. They replaced Vincenzo Montella with club legend Gennaro Gattuso in the middle of the season and the former midfielder led the team to a sixth-place finish and a berth in the Europa League.
There is likely to be another overhaul in the squad this summer and Milan could be in for another disappointing campaign.
Will Juventus see themselves the leaders of the league once again or will we see an upset?
Betway online football betting is the perfect place to make an outright prediction on the league, or to bet on the thrill of every Serie A encounter.
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