Predictions: Series A

Although Italian football does not begin yet for a few weeks, I thought I would continue in the risky game of predictions with one of my favorite leagues, Series A.

A few notes of caution should be included whenever anyone is making predictions about Italian football. First, I will be making predictions based on who I think are the best teams, and NOT based on who is best at, say, bribing referees and gaming the system. I am also basing these picks (and desperately hoping) that the season is played in one continuous run without any extended breaks for murdered policemen or anything like that. Finally, since I’m doing this early, I believe I should be allowed a mulligan if there are any other major transfers between now and September. Okay, without further delay…

Series A Picks 2007-2008

1). Fiorentina

2). Inter

3). Milan

4). Roma

5). Lazio

6). Juventus

…….

18). Cagliari

19). Catania

20). Genoa

Obviously, I’ve got some ‘splaining to do. I picked Fiorentina partly out of sentiment; they are my favorite Italian team. But they were also very strong last year, finishing 5^th despite being deducted fifteen points for the, er, match-fixing. They’ve lost my favorite player, Luca Toni, but they seem to be very strong up front with Mutu and Piazzini. I would love to be in Florence the night they clinched Series A.

I do think Inter will follow their strong season with another, and I have them finishing 2nd. I have Milan 3^rd, based on the ability of last year’s club strengthened by a full year of the Phenomenon and (hopefully) more games by my favorite player, Yoann Gourcuff. Roma, Lazio and Juve round out the top six.

I have Cagliari, Catania, and Genoa going down. As with my English picks, I have two promoted teams staying up: those crazy fellas from Naples and Juventus, who will cheat to stay up if they need to. Of course, all of these picks are just blind guesses. I think most followers of Italian Football will be happy if we can simply get through a season without any criminal investigations or, more importantly, without anyone being killed.

NEXT: la Liga!

One last quick note: Yesterday’s Charity Shield match in Wembly was fun and full of attacking football. It served as a real “might-have-been” for last year’s FA Cup final. If we see more of that during the season, we should have a fun premiership.