After years of Juventus dominance, Serie A has come alive over the past four campaigns with four different Scudetto winners.
Last season, it was the turn of Napoli, who enjoyed a fantastic title for the first time in over 30 years, and the celebrations are still raging across the Amalfi Coast.
But after a mixed set of Serie A 2023 results in the early weeks of this campaign, the Partenopei already have an uphill battle to defend their hard-earned title.
This is a wide open race in a league you could predict at the start of the season for too many years, and it’s captured the imagination of Italians and fans worldwide. It’s pretty much anybody’s guess who will be the 2023/24 champions, but AC Milan have made the best start and sit proudly at the top of the table with 21 points from eight games, two ahead of Inter Milan.
I Rossoneri flopped last season when they tried to defend their own 2022 Scudetto, and the club has backed manager Stefano Pioli, bringing Yunus Musah and Christian Pulisic to the San Siro.
Pioli has a great blend of youth and experience in his squad with veteran striker Olivier Giroud still at the top of his game and 24-year-old creative forward Rafael Leao is about to come into his prime.
These are exciting times for I Rossoneri fans, and Milan’s only blemish on an otherwise perfect campaign so far was a 5-1 drubbing in the Derby di Milano, a rare occasion when I Nerazzurri scored five and Lautaro Martinez wasn’t on target.
The Argentine forward is sprinting ahead in the race for the 2024 Capocannoniere with 10 goals already and four more than his nearest rival, Napoli’s Victor Osimhen.
Inter were the 2021 Italian champions, and manager Simone Inzaghi was expected to follow up on that success. But he has so far failed, though he came very close to Champions League glory last June, losing the 2023 final to Manchester City.
Inzaghi has brought quality into the club with France striker Marcus Thuram arriving after four impressive seasons at Borussia Monchengladbach. Thuram has made a good start to life in Milan with two goals and five assists, but Inter are heavily reliant on Martinez for goals.
At the other end of the pitch, the departure of keeper Andre Onana to Manchester United has seen the arrival of Swiss stopper Yann Sommer, arguably an upgrade on current form.
Both Milan clubs are in good shape. The Serie A 2023 betting odds rate them as the two favourites to win the 2024 title with Inter at 2.40 and Milan at 3.20.
The Osimhen saga could sink Napoli
Defending champions Napoli had a difficult task to defend their 2023 title when the season started back in August, but it just seems to be getting harder as the weeks go on.
Before the international break, Napoli lost 3-2 to Real Madrid in the Champions League and 3-1 to Fiorentina in Serie A.
The loss of defencive rock Kim-Min-Jae to FC Bayern has clearly been a blow, and now star striker Victor Osimhen looks like he may only have a handful of games left to play for the Partenopei.
The Nigerian hitman has been embroiled in a social media row with his club and Europe’s big spending clubs have been circling, and now he has picked up an injury while on international duty which may keep him out for a month.
Osimhen has suffered a hamstring injury and looks set to miss key games against Milan in the league and Union Berlin in the Champions League.
The problems are mounting up for manager Rudi Garcia now that his top scorer is out, and the manager will be desperate to see Georgian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia recapture his explosive form of last season.
Garcia needs something to go right.
Juventus is the wild card
After a period of some serious turmoil on and off the pitch, the Old Lady will not be disappointed with her start. And last time out, she won the Turin Derby with a comfortable 2-0 victory.
Juventus are the third favourites to win the Scudetto at SBOTOP odds of 5.00, and that is a handy position to be in for a club which found itself docked points last season for financial irregularities.
Bianconeri is reinventing itself after a period of dominance, underpinned by a rock of a defencive partnership between Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci.
Max Allegri has returned to manage the club he guided to five successive Scudettos during that period, and he knows this league like the back of his hand.
Whether he has enough quality in his squad remains the question, and a lot depends on the form of striker Dusan Vlahovic, who is top scoring with four, while midfielder Manuel Locatelli is a crucial figure in Allegri’s lineup.
With Roma and Lazio both starting slowly and Napoli’s problems mounting up, I make Juventus the dark horse, and a serious one, to wrestle back the Scudetto.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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