The new Serie A campaign is just around the corner, and all 20 clubs will have a clean slate when the hostilities get underway, starting in mid-August.
Napoli come into the new season as the defending champions after breaking their 33-year Scudetto drought, so they will have the biggest targets on their backs.
The other 19 teams are coming for their heads, and the pre-season Serie A 2023 odds predict that the competition is wide open.
However, we are not expecting the likes of Juventus, Atalanta, and Monza to be favoured in the title race anytime soon, and SBOTOP is here to explain why.
Juventus
After dominating the league for almost a decade, Juventus are likely to miss out on the Scudetto for the fourth consecutive season, and perhaps finishing in the top four is their best-case scenario.
The struggle is real for Juventus, who could be losing some of their key players amid their front office drama. The Old Lady is being investigated again for allegedly cooking the books, which cost them a spot in the Champions League, thus further weakening their leverage in the summer transfer window.
As a result, rival clubs are circling around Dusan Vlahovic and Federico Chiesa. Last season, Vlahovic led the team with 14 goals and four assists, while Chiesa had three goals and six assists, a decent return coming off a long injury layoff.
It also doesn’t help that Angel Di Maria, with eight goals and seven assists last season, already left for Benfica, and club icon Leonardo Bonucci was frozen out of the rotation.
With all these things happening, many fans are calling for Allegri’s sacking, which may spill through to the start of the new season. Of course, that is far from ideal for a team that has lofty expectations year in and year out.
Atalanta
Atalanta are looking to return to the Champions League, but their chances of doing so are slim due to different reasons.
For starters, they haven’t done much this summer with zero new signings, as the majority of the new ones coming in are players who have finished their respective long spells.
Yes, they have overachieved in the Italian top-flight these past few seasons, but the fact remains that they are still a relatively small club, and one way they could raise funds is if they sold their stars.
That’s the main reason why they’re listening to offers for their wunderkind, Rasmus Hojlund. The Danish striker burst onto the scene last season, emerging as one of the hottest young prospects in Europe when he recorded nine goals and two assists.
Dubbed by many as “Baby Haaland”, Hojlund shares similar qualities with the Manchester City striker. He is powerful and clinical in the final third, and the best part is that he just turned 20 years old.
Manchester United are his biggest suitors right now, given their lack of depth in the striking department. Hojlund would fit in well under Erik ten Hag’s system, and he’s expected to start right away if he comes to Old Trafford.
To their credit, Atalanta recognise this, so they’re trying to cash in on Hojlund. La Dea rejected the Red Devil’s initial bid of €40 million because they’ve given Hojlund a €60 million price tag.
But despite this, talks remain positive between Atalanta and Manchester United, so it feels like a matter of time before they reach a compromise for Hojlund.
Losing Hojlund would not only hurt Atalanta in the short term but also in the long term, as it means that they’ll rely on the likes of Luis Muriel and Duvan Zapata once again, who are reaching past their primes.
Monza
Monza’s first-ever season in the Italian top-flight surpassed all their expectations. Many tipped them to be a relegation candidate right away when they were promoted, but with their positive Serie A 2023 results, they managed to finish 11th in the standings, only two points short of being in the Top 10.
They haven’t done much this summer to beef up their roster, though. Their only key acquisition so far is Roberto Gagliardini, who joined from Inter Milan on a free transfer. The 29-year-old certainly adds quality to their midfield, but take note that he has yet to regain his form.
Carlos Augusto and Patrick Ciurria led the team in scoring last term with six goals apiece, while Gianluca Caprari, Dany Mota, and Matteo Pessina all had five goals each.
With their core intact, I Biancorossi have what it takes to stay in Serie A, but don’t expect them to punch above their weight again.
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