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The Premier League has always been renowned for being the most exciting and competitive league in the world. With Leicester winning the title in 2016, who could argue that statement is wrong?
The Premier League will always be exciting but this could be the year it may be quite predictable. The two Manchester clubs have spent astronomical amounts with the window yet to even shut, and it looks likely that those two could battle it out for the title. This may not be the case, but based on the strength of the two squads, they should certainly be challenging for the Premier League.
This would therefore create a less exciting scenario, with the two heavy weights looking like storming the league. Whereas in Serie A, despite Juventus having won the last six titles, this forthcoming season looks extremely exciting with all the talent that teams around the top of Serie A have.
Inter Milan are firstly a team who have numerous top quality players such as Ivan Perisic, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Joao Mario, Stevan Jovetic, Mauro Icardi, Eder and more. They could only finish in eighth place last season in a disappointing season for Inter.
They will certainly intend on improving that position this season and two good pre-season victories over Bayern Munich and Chelsea will help boost their confidence ahead of two difficult starting fixtures against Fiorentina and then Roma.
Then there is AC Milan, whom almost every football fan would love to see rise to the top of the game again and compete in Europe. They have been overtaken by a Chinese investment group which has led to numerous new signings. Their new additions should hopefully see them at least challenge for Champions League football next season.
Two other teams even finished above the two Milan’s last season, with Atlanta finishing in fourth and Lazio finishing fifth. These two teams are also not to be ruled out as they battle it out with the Milan’s, Napoli, Roma and Juventus next season in what will be an extremely tight title race.
In 2016/17, Roma finished the season just four points behind Juventus, and Napoli finished just five behind. This suggests there wasn’t a huge gulf in class between the top three like many believed there was.
This was the closest anyone had come to catching Juventus since 2011/12 when Milan finished four points behind. For the four straight seasons after that, Juventus cruised their way to their title successes, winning the league by nine points or more. This therefore suggests somebody else could win Serie A in 2018.
Napoli could be the team to topple Juventus as they have become one of the most exciting sides in Europe. The combinations between Lorenzo Insigne, Marek Hamsik, Dries Mertens and Jose Callejon were devastating at times last season.
It was certainly no surprise that they scored 94 goals, the fourth most in Europe. They only scored less than Barcelona, Real Madrid and Monaco, which is no reason to be disappointed given the world class attacks those three teams had last season.
Roma are another team who could finally end Juventus’ long reign at the top in Italy. Similarly to Napoli, Roma scored an enormous amount of goals last season, scoring just four less than the team from Naples. Additionally, Edin Dzeko ended the season as the highest goal scorer. If he can replicate that form this season and Roma turn some of the games that they often lose into at least draws, they could either win or come very close to winning the title this season.
Most importantly of all, Juventus could be a weaker side at the beginning of next season. In the heart of their defence they have lost a crucial defender in Leonardo Bonucci. The loss of his ball playing ability from the back could affect the way the team plays and the way the whole team defends next season, which is a huge blow.
Also, if Barcelona come calling for Paulo Dybala as a replacement for Neymar, will the Argentinian turn down the offer? It’s unlikely. Could we finally see Juventus lose top spot in Italy?
Even if Juventus do still retain the title, which would be no real surprise, the league will be extremely exciting regardless of who wins the title.
Serie A now has talent in abundance. Roma, Napoli, Juventus and all the teams as far as the top 10 play attractive, quick, attacking football, making it not only as exciting as the Premier League, but the most exciting league in Europe.
