Season restart: Serie A in focus
The World Cup has come and gone and Serie A football has returned.
In Italy, there is unlikely to be much of a post-tournament hangover – for two reasons.
The Azzurri, of course, didn’t make it to the Middle East. They failed to qualify for the World Cup despite their status as reigning European champions and were forced to watch events in Qatar from afar.
Secondly – and more positively – Serie A has a host of intriguing storylines set to resume.
An intense title race
Napoli lead the way upon the resumption of Serie A – they’ve taken 41 points from 15 games.
The Partenopei boast the sharpest attack in Italy, scoring 37 goals, and adopt a cavalier approach.
AC Milan, Italy’s reigning champions, are eight points behind them, while Juventus and Lazio make up the top four.
A casual observer of the Italian game would assume Napoli are nailed-on favourites to lift the Scudetto come the end of the season – but the southern side haven’t done that since the days of Diego Maradona.
Juventus, 10 points behind Napoli, stand out as dark horses. They’ve scored 24 goals and can’t compete with the league leaders in the final third – not that anyone else can – but they boast the meanest defence, conceding just seven goals in 15 games.
A wide-open battle for European football
Just as tight as the title race, fortunately for observers, is the battle for a place in continental competition.
Internazionale currently occupy fifth place – a spot that would guarantee Europa League football in 2023/24. But they’re actually level on points with Lazio in fourth – it’s only their goal difference, inferior by three, that’s keeping them from the promised land of Champions League football.
And the Nerazzurri aren’t the sole challenges for that top-four berth – far from it. Also in the picture are Atalanta and Roma – both three points behind Inter – as well as eighth-placed Udinese, who are a further three points behind the aforementioned two. Just nine points separate eighth from second, in fact.
Of the cabal of clubs operating just below the elite, it’s Inter who boast the deadliest attack – they have 34 goals under their belts – and Atalanta, with just 15 goals conceded, who keep the tightest ship.
The fight against relegation
If things are tight and unpredictable in the top half of Serie A, the table is a little more stratified lower down.
There’s essentially a clear demarcation between the bottom three and the rest of Italian football’s middle class. Verona are rooted to the bottom of the table, with five points to their name, Sampdoria are a place and a point better off and, in turn, Cremonese are a place and a point better off than them.
Spezia, in 17th, have a six-point cushion between them and the relegation zone, however – a gap that looks unlikely to be bridged at this moment in time.
It’s fair to say, though, that Serie A’s mid-table is rather congested – a cohort including Lecce, Sassuolo, Monza, Empoli, Salernitana, Bologna and Fiorentina can all be found within six points north of Spezia. Torino sit in the peace of ninth on 21.
The Capocannoniere
The Capocannoniere is the Italian Golden Boot – Ciro Immobile of Lazio is the current holder.
But, having struggled with injury this season, the Italian is unlikely to retain the prize. Napoli’s Victor Osimhen is the present leader in that race, contributing nine goals in 959 minutes for the early-season pace-setters.
Marko Arnautovic of Genoa takes second place, with eight goals under his belt, while the triumvirate of Ademola Lookman of Atalanta, Lautaro Martínez of Inter and M’Bala Nzola of Spezia all rest shortly behind on seven. With no clear frontrunner, it’s a race that could go down to the wire.
Goalkeeper of the Year
Mike Maignan of Milan is the reigning Goalkeeper of the Year in Serie A.
The Frenchman, of course, was key to the Rossoneri’s title-winning season. But he’s not really in the conversation so far this year – at least not yet.
Ivan Provedel of Lazio is the frontrunner this time around – if you’re counting clean sheets. The Italian has kept nine in 15 matches for the Biancocelesti – Juventus’ Wojciech Szczęsny and Napoli’s Alex Meret are next in the pecking order with six apiece in nine and 15 games, respectively.
Szczęsny, however, comes up again when you look at goals conceded – he’s shipped just three. Like the race for the Capocannoniere, the battle for Italy’s golden glove will be interesting.
All graphics in this article were produced with the Twenty3 Toolbox. For more information, please get in touch below.