Before becoming a Sports Journalist for Free Super Tips, Aaron spent three years studying Sports Journalism at the University of Sunderland while taking in the Black Cats' 'glory years' under Martin O'Neill. Now back in Northern Ireland he turns niche stats into predictions for FST, while he's one of the few people on this island who is equally comfortable at Windsor Park and the Aviva.
Inter Milan wrestled the Scudetto off Juventus last season, the culmination of their plan to return to the top of Italian football. Everything looked set for Inter to dominate, until they lost their manager, top goalscorer and one of the best defenders.
Now Serie A returns with the 2021/22 season likely to see a new champion based on the problems at Inter. However, will it be a return to the top for Max Allegri in his second stint at Juventus? A certain Jose Mourinho also has eyes on the top at Roma.
There are seven Serie A sides expecting to make the top four and arguably four of those have their ambitions set even higher. Ahead of the new campaign, see our outright predictions below.
Serie A winner prediction
Max Allegri won the Serie A title in each of his five seasons with Juventus during his first stint. Even more impressively, he won the league and cup double in four of those campaigns, also making two Champions League finals.
Allegri’s return has made Juve odds-on favourites for the title. While it’s easy to see why Juve are the favourites, the price looks too short. Allegri has a great track record, but success is far from guaranteed on his return.
The better value here looks to be the Winner Without Juventus market. Atalanta have been the overachievers in Serie A for the last few seasons and they finished third last term, just a point shy of second. La Dea have made some good signings this summer and Gian Piero Gasperini continues to excel in Bergamo, so we’re backing Atalanta to be the main rivals to Juve this term.
Serie A top four prediction
The seven-way fight for the Champions League spots in Serie A should be a thrilling one, but Juventus, Atalanta and Inter Milan are heavy favourites. That leaves Napoli, AC Milan, Roma and Lazio fighting for fourth.
Napoli and Lazio both missed out last season and simply replacing their managers isn’t likely to take them back into the top four. Roma have a big overhaul ahead and Mourinho has a lot of work to do to close the 16-point gap between them and the top four from last term.
AC Milan are returning to the Champions League this term after a second-place finish last term. Stefano Pioli’s side have been brilliant since Serie A resumed in June 2020. In the 50 games since, they won 33 times and lost only seven.
Milan lost Gianluigi Donnarumma and Hakan Calhanoglu this summer, but they’ve made smart moves. Mike Maignan is a solid replacement in goal, while Olivier Giroud should thrive in Serie A. Pioli has made the most of his resources at San Siro and we’re backing him to guide Milan back into the top four.
Serie A top scorer predictions
The favourite for the Capocannoniere this season is Cristiano Ronaldo, but the forward has only finished as top scorer once in three seasons in Italy. He did finish top of the scoring charts last term and after landing the Golden Boot at Euro 2020 there’s no reason to doubt he’ll be in the mix this season.
Ronaldo’s hopes are helped by the departure of Romelu Lukaku, while his replacement at Inter, Edin Dzeko, doesn’t seem like he can match Ronaldo’s clinical record. However, one man who could have a breakout year is Roma’s Tammy Abraham.
The former Chelsea man scored 15 Premier League goals as Chelsea’s man striker in 2019/20. He’s almost 24 now, so he’s about to hit his scoring prime. While Mourinho isn’t known for attacking football he does try to maximise his centre-forwards. Roma have plenty of creativity and at 20/1 he’s a great outside bet to finish as top scorer.
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