If you love soccer, you’ll love Italian soccer and if you love Italian soccer you’ll love their premier league, and if you love Serie A then you will probably want to know what to expect next season and what you can bet on!
The top tier of Italian professional football; Serie A has been in operation since 1929 and is a great advert for the beautiful game. It has produced the highest number of European Cup finalists, with Italian clubs making the final 26 times. Besides having some of the best football played on their pitches, Serie A also boasts three of the world's most famous clubs, in Juventus, Milan and Internazionale (aka Inter Milan). It’s no surprise that more footballers have won the coveted Ballon d'Or (European Footballer of the Year) award while playing in Serie A, than any other league.
Marvellous Massimiliano
Last season ended on 22 May 2011, and that season was all about AC Milan. They dominated the league and won the Scudetto (small shield). Had you had the foresight to bet on them this time last year, you would have been offered some pretty tasty soccer odds, as even with world class players like Robinho, Ibrahimovic, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Mark Van Bommel they were far from favourites to win the league.
The betting odds showed that their Nerazzurri neighbours, Inter Milan, and Roma were the two favourites. It was supposed to be a two horse race, but what do bookies know? Inter finished runners up and Roma finished way down in sixth.
Milan’s success started when new manager Massimiliano Allegri was appointed last June. Although there were doubts about his ability to manage a big club, he swiftly silenced his critics and is now on Chelsea’s / Roman Abramovich's' shortlist as the replacement for Carlo Ancelotti. You can see why he’s caught the Russian’s eye as Milan were top of the table by November. They romped home, and won the 2010–11 Serie A (their 18th league title overall) on 7 May 2011, two games before the season’s end. Keep an eye on Chelsea and Allegri, as last year’s League trophy was Milan's first Scudetto since 2004, and I doubt they’d win back to back titles without their manager. What is also worth noting is that their triumph ended a run of five successive Serie A titles by their rival Internazionale.
Marvellous Milan
Milan took the title by a six point margin and they had an amazing goal difference of +41 (second place Internazionale had +27). It’s early days to try and predict the winner of next year’s Serie A, but with the quality of football at the Italians feet a bet on any of the top four teams will keep you entertained for the whole season.
However I’d be very careful about investing my money (so early) and I suggest you keep a keen eye on the latest odds, and the latest news about managerial appointments. It might however be worth a few points in the SBR sportsbook, see if you can take some of Dax's points!!
Other than Milan, the big story of last year’s Serie A was Udinese, who shocked the footballing world by qualifying for the Champions League for just the second time in their history. Not only did they finish in fourth place, but they did it with some terrific results, like their 4-4 draw against AC Milan, and 3-1 victory over Inter Milan.
If you have a thing for underdogs check out the odds on Udinese having another great season. Their star player was Alex Sanchez who looks to be worth the millions of Euros that Udinese value him at. However there’s breaking news of a personal call from Sir Alex Ferguson to the 22 year old Chilean, with an offer of a place in next year’s Manchester United squad. If Udinese lose Sanchez, expect them to find it difficult to replicate last year’s success.
Down at the foot of the table last year we saw Sampdoria, Brescia (the Serie B Playoff winners) and Bari all relegated, while Lecce; the previous year’s Serie B Champions and runners up Cesena both stayed up. If you want to look at the 2012 relegation candidates the obvious choice is Atalanta who appear in Serie A after finishing the season as Champions of Serie B. Likely Serie A strugglers are also Sienna are also likely to struggle as are Novara, the third and final team to secure a spot in Serie A (through the Playoffs). Novara truly deserve to be playing in Serie A as they finished the season 3rd in their league booked their place by beating Reggina and Padova in the playoffs.
Molto Goals Multo Bene Goals
If you can’t see value in the teams yet, then a more intriguing set of odds might be found in the “top goalscorers”. While Milan comfortably took the league, they seem to have a much more democratic attitude to scoring goals, and had three players tied on 14 goals (each) in 8th place (Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Alexandre Pato and Robinho). Top of the table was Antonio Di Natale of Udinese who scored 28 goals, with Wdinson Cavani (of third place Napoli) on 26. It’s one of the joys of Italian football that the games tend to generate plenty of goals and the Italians love their goalscorers. Goalscorers that don’t necessarily belong to the top teams.
Whatever and whoever you bet on, consider your winnings a bonus and the football you get to enjoy as the real bang for your buck.