Juventus once again go into a Serie A season as the firm favourites. If the Old Lady manage to defend their crown they will make it an incredible five titles on the bounce. Despite losing both Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal they are still only available at odds on. The odds suggest that the rest of the contenders are some way behind but can anyone cause an upset in Serie A?
The gap between Juve and the rest is obvious in the Bet365 outright market. The firm go 8/13 about Massimiliano Allegri’s men with second favourites Roma 7/1 shots and Napoli further back still at 8/1. AC Milan and Internazionale (both 16/1 with Coral) are next. The bookies cannot make their minds up about the chances of Lazio, the team who finished third last season, with their price ranging from 12/1 to 20/1.
Can Anyone Stop Juventus?
- Juventus – Juventus fans are used to winning but they will have to get used to a number of new players. With Carlos Tevez, Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal leaving, Allegri has brought in Paulo Dybala, Mario Mandzukic and Simone Zara to bolster the attack and Sami Kehdira to fill the gap in midfield. No team managed to outscore Juve last year and with those additions that looks set to continue. They also had the meanest Serie A defence with only 24 goals conceded so the chasing pack are up against it if they want to overhaul the champions.
- Roma – The Giallorossi were 13 points away from Juve when finishing second last season. To have any chance of improving on that this term they will have to score more goals – the legendary Francesco Totti and Adem Ljajic were the team’s top scorers with a mere eight goals. To that end they have signed Victor Ibarbo and Leandro Paredes but they may still need to find another source of goals. Second looks about their level once again.
- Napoli – After Real Madrid came knocking for Rafa Benitez Napoli decided to hand the reins over to Maurizio Sarri. The Italian manager performed a minor miracle by keeping Empoli in the top division last season but a first Scudetto in 25 years would far exceed that. Sarri has improved the team’s midfield but it was the defence that let them down last year. They are capable of improving on fifth but won’t be costing Juve too much sleep.
- Lazio – For a long time last season it looked as though Lazio were going to pip city rivals Roma to second spot but an inconsistent run-in, including a derby day loss, meant they missed out by a solitary point. They also lost the Coppa Italia final but will go into the new season full of optimism. There is a great deal of uncertainty about Lazio this year – not least about whether they can coax the brilliance out of Ravel Morison – so if they finish third again it’ll be a great season.
At some stage Juventus will not win the Serie A title but that doesn’t look like starting this season. The fans have warmed to Allegri and his tactics are working. The only slight concern is the player overhaul but with the chasing pack so far behind, Juve are the team to back, even at 8/13 with Bet365.