Napoli lifted the 2022/23 Serie A title in fantastic style to become the fourth team in four seasons to lift the Scudetto, and it was the Partenopei’s first title since the 1990s.
Juventus, Inter Milan, and AC Milan have all been champions in the 2020s, but it was Lazio who pushed Napoli the hardest last season and now I Biancocelesti fans are wondering whether it is their turn to taste glory.
They too have had a long wait, with their last Scudetto coming in 2000 when Sven-Goran Eriksson led them to a first title in a quarter of a century.
Now, 24 years on from their last league win, Maurizio Sarri has the task of leading them to the 2024 Scudetto, and Lazio will surely be a team to watch.
Here are five reasons we think I Biancocelesti have a fighting chance.
The league is wide open
When the hostilities begin in August, the SBOTOP odds for the 2024 Scudetto will reveal a genuine six-horse race with no clear favourite. Inter Milan may just head the bunch but Napoli, Juventus, AC Milan, Roma, and Lazio will all be in the race.
Neither Milan clubwere convincing in the league last term, though Inter reached the Champions League final, but returning striker Romelu Lukaku looked off the pace for much of the campaign.
Champions Napoli have lost their inspirational boss Luciano Spalletti, who is taking a year off, and they might also say goodbye to their star striker and 2023 Capocannoniere winner Victor Osimhen, who is on the radar of a host of top European clubs.
The door is open.
Lazio were second best last year
While the Milan clubs were inconsistent and Juventus struggled on an off the field, Lazio quietly went about their business and deservedly finished runners-up with a superb set of Serie A 2023 results.
They pushed Napoli for much of the campaign and kept I Partenopei on their toes, winning 2-0 against Sassuolo thanks to goals from Felipe Anderson and Toma Basic to ensure Napoli had to get a result away to Udinese to win the Scudetto.
Napoli had a comfortable margin in the end, but Lazio were never in danger of handing over their runner-up spot.
Maurizio Sarri knows all about Serie A
Lazio’s 64-year-old head coach has been around the block, managing in Serie A over the past two decades with a brief foray to England where he coached Chelsea.
He won promotion with Empoli and kept them in the top-flight. Then as Napoli manager, he led his team to regular second places, often coming close to breaking the 10-year dominance of Juventus, even winning the Serie A Coach of the Year Award in 2017.
In 2020, as boss of Juve, Sarri guided the Old Lady to her most recent Scudetto.
The Serie A 2023 betting odds say Lazio will be players in the 2024 title run in, and when the Romans open up with a trip to Lecce on 19th August, Sarri will ensure they are primed and ready for action.
Immobile has a big incentive
Club captain and star striker Ciro Immobile is entering his eighth campaign with Lazio during which time he has become the club’s most prolific striker of all time, scoring a whopping 162 goals in 239 games.
Now 33 years old, the four-time Capocannoniere winner is still in his pomp. He was league top scorer in 2022 with 27 goals, and he is determined to win a fifth Italian Golden Boot this season.
Immobile has it all: the pace, strength on the ground and in the air, and the coolest of heads in front of goal. He conceded the Capocannoniere to Osimhen last season, and now Immobile wants his prize back.
Biancocelesti’s settled defence
While Sarri needs to strengthen his team in preparation for the 2023/24 title race, it is in midfield where he has the most work to do, particularly if Sergej Milinkovic-Savic moves on as expected.
In contrast, Lazio’s defencive back five became a highly effective and settled unit as the campaign progressed and they look likely to continue in 2023/24.
Goalkeeper Ivan Provedal had a brilliant first campaign since his transfer from Spezia and established himself as Lazio’s no. 1. Luca Pellegrini, on loan for Juventus, impressed at left-back with his defencive prowess and surging runs down the flank, and the Biancocelesti are keen to sign him with a fee of around €15 million being negotiated. The impressive Elseid Hysaj will claim the right-back position. While in the defence marshalled by the commanding Alessio Romagnoli, they will have a place for 25-year-old Nicolo Casale, who thrived in Rome last season following a run of loan appearances.
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