And so it begins… After a summer of swaps and superstar arrivals, the long-awaited new Serie A season begins in Verona with an ominous task for the home side.
Chievo have picked up just one point in their last 12 league matches against Juventus. The visitors’ new A-list striker Cristiano Ronaldo scored in each of his last 10 league appearances for Real Madrid, netting 18 goals in total. Few would back against him continuing this form on Italian soil.
Possibly the biggest game of the weekend takes us to the capital where Lazio have won four of their last six season openers in Serie A (D1, L1). Their opponents Napoli have scored 30 goals in their last 10 Serie A matches against Lazio, netting 3+ goals in six of these meetings.
Torino tend to start campaigns well and have kept a clean sheet in each of their last three top-flight season openers at home (W2, D1 That being said, visitors AS Roma have only lost one of their last 16 matches against Torino in Serie A (W11 D4).
Bologna and SPAL have drawn only once in their last 17 fixtures with Bologna winning 11 compared to SPAL’s five.
New Bologna manager Filippo Inzaghi may have been out of the elite for a while but he has won his last two games in Serie A – both while in charge of AC Milan, against Torino and Atalanta in May 2015.
Cagliari and Empoli have five wins apiece in the 12 Serie A games between them, drawing the other two. This game could go either way as Empoli went unbeaten in their last 23 Serie B games under Aurelio Andreazzoli (W16 D7).
Nostalgics will be glad to see Parma back in the top flight after their years out of Serie A. Their ace in the pack may be Luca Rigoni who has been directly involved in four goals matches against Udinese (three goals, one assist).
Last season ended just in the nick of time for Udinese who conceded the first goal of the match, on average, after 28 minutes in Serie A last season, earlier than any other side. They will be keen to reverse this trend.
Sassuolo have won more matches versus Inter in Serie A than against any other side – winning six of the 10 fixtures (L4).
Inter finished last season with 10 points more than they did in the 2016/17 Serie A season, the highest points difference of any Italian side who played in the last two top-flight campaigns. With Luciano Spalletti’s feet firmly under the table and beginning to get the best out of a talented team, this could be repeated.
If anyone is looking for an upset then Bergamo could be the place. Atalanta have lost each of their last three opening day games in Serie A, with the last two also coming at home.
Newly-promoted Frosinone’s first away league match in the 2015-16 Serie A campaign was in Bergamo against Atalanta, with La Dea winning 2-0.
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com