Juventus have won three scudetto's in a row, winning last seasons by 17 points. They will be favourites to again finish top, but with manager Antonio Conte quitting at the start of pre season, they might not have it all their own way. Ex AC Milan boss Massimiliano Allegri has now been appointed and his first task will be to try and keep star midfielders Arturo Vidal and Paul Pogba who have been linked with moves away. Golden oldies keeper Gianluigi Buffon and midfield magician Andrea Pirlo will again be the main men at Juve. As to will Giorgio Chiellini in the centre of defence. Patrice Evra has been bought to strengthen the left back area and his experience will be vital after his success at Man United. One man who is bound to excite the fans is 21 year old Spanish forward, Alvaro Morata. The highly rated youngster got 10 goals for Real Madrid last season and the fans will hope he can strike a lethal partnership with Carlos Tevez.
Close on the tail of Juventus will be Rafa Benitez's Napoli who have deadly finisher Gonzalo Higuain up front will be helped by the signing of Michu on loan from Swansea for the season, with an option to buy at the end the season. There is a lot of attacking options available to Benitez, Goran Pandev, Lorenzo Insigne, Dries Mertens, Jose Callejon and Eduardo Vargas will all help share the goals. The chances will be assisted to them by the impressive midfielders of Marek Hamsik and Gokhan Inler. One area that may need strengthening is the defence. The Coppa Italia winners will look to top the league this year. Finding a settled formation will be the key to success at Napoli.
AS Roma started last season with a bang, but it fizzled out, this season could be different. This may be the last season for club legend Francesco Totti who at 37 is still going strong, with 8 goals in 29 games last season. Gervinho, Mattia Destro, Miralem Pjanic and Adem Ljajic impressed with Totti last season and have been strengthed by summer signing Juan Iturbe. Kevin Strootman is a big influence in the centre of midfield, but injury effected his season last year. His midfield partner Daniele De Rossi will be the main man in midfield. His no nonsense approach makes him a fans favourite. Veteran holding midfielder Seydou Keita joins from Valencia to add depth in the middle of the park. Urby Emanuelson and Ashley Cole have joined on free transfers. Fans will enjoy seeing Ashley Cole and Maicon on either flank in defence. The star man at the back Mehdi Benatia impressed last season and was a wanted man in the summer, but he remains and Roma will look to go all the way.
Italian giants AC Milan and Inter Milan are now seen as outsiders for the title, where as 10 years ago they were favourites. AC have got rid of a lot of the older players in the last few years and look in a good position to challenge this season. Defender Alex and winger Jeremy Menez join from PSG, as does Real Madrid keeper Diego Lopez, all on free transfers. Left back Pablo Armero who impressed at the World Cup with Columbia joins on loan, and Adil Rami's loan deal becomes a permanent one. With impressive midfielder Sulley Muntari, Keisuke Honda, Riccardo Montolivo, Andrea Poli and Nigel de Jong they have a competitive midfield. Add to that an exciting trio upfront of Mario Balotelli, M'Baye Niang and Stephan El Shaarawy. Filippo Inzaghi's men will be looking at Champions League places for sure, maybe even higher.
Inter Milan have been busy strengthening this summer. Nemanja Vidic joins on a free from Man United and will be a hit in the middle of defence. Holding French midfielder Yann M'Villa joins from Rubin Kazan on loan. Whilst Gary Medel joins from Cardiff for £10 million, these 2 could force a tough tackling partnership in midfield. Goals will be hard to come by, Southampton's forward Dani Osvaldo comes in to try and help Rodrigo Palacio and Mauro Icardi find the net. Some more signings are still needed to challenge for the title, but a Champions League places isn't exactly beyond them.
Lazio, Torino and Fiorentina will be pushing for European places, where as mid table looks likely for Atlanta, Cagliari, Genoa, Sampdoria, Udinese, Verona and Parma. It looks like 3 out of 5 at the bottom to go down them 5 being Chievo and Sassuolo who beat the drop last year, along with the 3 newly promoted teams Cesena, Empoli and Palermo.
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