The 2021/22 Serie A season is almost upon us and despite another year of Juventus dominance, could things change in the coming campaign?
Inter will be hoping to overcome a complicated summer and defend their Scudetto now under Simone Inzaghi, but Juventus and the rest of the chasing pack will be backing themselves in what should be an incredibly open title race.
Serie A welcome Salernitana, Empoli and Venezia into the top flight as well.
The team at Forza Italian Football have been discussing how they think the Serie A season will unfold this year, and we have put our predictions together in one place for your convenience.
CONOR CLANCY – @ConJClancy
Top four (in order 1-4): Juventus, Atalanta, Milan, Napoli.
Relegated (in order 18-20): Udinese, Spezia, Venezia.
Top Scorer: Ciro Immobile.
Player to watch: Giacomo Raspadori.
What would you like to see this season?
They’ve lost Rodrigo De Paul and Juan Musso, so it’s high time Udinese are relegated to Serie B. They’ve stunk Serie A out for years now, let’s get them gone. At the top, another team wearing black and white falling short again would be great. Let’s hope that this year is the one that sees Atalanta go to even more ridiculous heights.
KEV POGORZELSKI- @RabbitRabbitOn
Top four (in order 1-4): Atalanta, Juventus, Inter, Milan.
Relegated (in order 18-20): Spezia, Venezia, Salerintana.
Top Scorer: Ciro Immobile.
Player to watch: Nicolas Gonzalez.
What would you like to see this season?
After the last 18 months, all I want to see is full stadiums across the peninsula. Even if that means more revenue generation for Juventus and them retaining the Serie A title. The presence of Venezia and Salerintana back in the top flight this season will seem a little hollow, should their fans not get to enjoy in person what will likely be fleeting returns.
VITO DORIA – @VitoCDoria
Top four (in order 1-4): Juventus, Atalanta, Napoli, AC Milan.
Relegated (in order 18-20): Hellas Verona, Salernitana, Venezia.
Top Scorer: Ciro Immobile.
Player to watch: Alessandro Cortinovis.
What would you like to see this season?
Italian strikers like Giacomo Raspadori, Gianluca Scamacca, and Patrick Cutrone score plenty of goals in Serie A so Ciro Immobile and Andrea Belotti have competition in the Azzurri squad. I would like to see Nicolo Zaniolo stay fit and have a great season.
EUAN BURNS – @burns_euan
Top four (in order 1-4): Juventus, Atalanta, Inter, Milan.
Relegated (in order 18-20): Cagliari, Torino, Salernitana.
Top Scorer: Cristiano Ronaldo.
Player to watch: Nicolas Gonzalez.
What would you like to see this season?
A title race that runs to the final day. We got the joy of someone other than Juventus winning last season so now I want the whole experience. Inter wrapped it up fairly early last year so this time, regardless of who’s involved (not Juventus though, obviously), I want the title to be undecided as the final set of fixtures kicks off. Also, it would be great to see Dusan Vlahovic (assuming he stays) really kick on and show he’s not a one-season wonder. Finally, I want to see Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham show English lads that moving abroad is great and make Chelsea look daft.
BEN HUGHES – @BenHughes1989
Top four (in order 1-4): Inter, Juventus, Milan, Roma.
Relegated (in order 18-20): Torino, Spezia, Salernitana.
Top Scorer: Edin Dzeko.
Player to watch: Tammy Abraham.
What would you like to see this season?
I’d like to see Simone Inzaghi succeed with his pretty midfield pairing of Stefano Sensi and Nicolo Barella for I Nerazzurri to retain the Scudetto. A long title race is always great and a sack load of Serie A goals with tons more high-scoring games would be brilliant. Italy’s top flight outdid the Premier League in terms of goals scored by 139 last term, to the total sum of 1163 goals shared between all Serie A sides, so that’s what I want this time around too.
SHAUN BIONDI – @shaun_biondi
Top four (in order 1-4): Juventus, Atalanta, Inter, Napoli.
Relegated (in order 18-20): Spezia, Venezia, Salernitana.
Top Scorer: Ciro Immobile.
Player to watch: Nicolas Gonzalez.
What would you like to see this season?
It would be great to see stadiums back at full capacity at some point this season – with the roar of the crowd and the colours in the stands. I’d also like to see Fiorentina finally get back into Europe too.
PIERO MINGOIA
Top four (in order 1-4): Juventus, Milan, Inter, Atalanta.
Relegated (in order 18-20): Hellas Verona, Salernitana, Spezia.
Top Scorer: Olivier Giroud.
Player to watch: Nicolo Zaniolo.
What would you like to see this season?
I would like to see a battle to the wire for the Scudetto with AC Milan coming out on top. It is all set for another exciting season as the arrival of Jose Mourinho in Rome will add some more competition. Simone Inzaghi has patiently waited for a huge opportunity like the Inter role so he will do all he can to retain the title even without Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi. I believe Lazio could be the surprise package as Maurizio Sarri looks to create exciting attacking football wherever he goes. Massimiliano Allegri back to Juventus only means one thing and that is they want to begin to dominate again after losing out to Inter last year. There has been lots of change manager wise so maybe the stability Milan have at the moment could be a key factor.
CHARLIE HARRIS
Top four (in order 1-4): Juventus, Milan, Atalanta, Napoli.
Relegated (in order 18-20): Venezia, Spezia, Salernitana.
Top Scorer: Cristiano Ronaldo.
Player to watch: Mike Maignan.
What would you like to see this season?
At least one of the three teams I’ve predicted to be relegated to stay up. Head definitely ruled heart here. Spezia’s brilliant and unexpected survival last season offers hope, but Thiago Motta is still massively unproven as a top-level coach. Venezia’s return is great for Serie A, but their squad looks thin. Having followed Salernitana for some years it would be fun to see I Granata put boardroom instability behind them and shock everyone. At the top end of the table seeing Jose Mourinho regain his 2009/10 swagger wouldn’t be a bad thing!
DOV SCHIAVONE – @DovSchiavone
Top four (in order 1-4): Juventus, Inter, Roma, Milan.
Relegated (in order 18-20): Venezia, Spezia, Salernitana.
Top Scorer: Ciro Immobile.
Player to watch: Denzel Dumfries.
What would you like to see this season?
As always a fight for the Scudetto! We had a good race for about half of last season, but it was clear from about January that Inter were going to take the title given Milan’s hiccups and Juventus’ floundering. Now, we have that rejuvenated Milan side who know they can compete, and Juve back with a coach who knows how to win, plus Inter are severely weaker than last term. Then you look at Roma with Jose Mourinho, Lazio with Maurizio Sarri and Champions League regulars Atalanta. All the ingredients are there for an epic season.
