Serie A Predictions & Best Bets

Here are our predictions for the upcoming 2024/25 season. We look at the best odds across the division.

All odds are subject to change.

Current Serie A champions Inter Milan are favourites to retain their crown and win the league title for the 21st time in their history. Last season, they won the league in convincing fashion, ultimately winning by 19 points over second place AC Milan. They were dominant at both ends of the pitch, ranking first for both goals scored and goals conceded. Incredibly, they allowed just 22 goals in 38 games, nine less than any other side.

Striker Lautaro Martinez had a particularly impressive season, as the Argentine netted 24 times to be the league’s top scorer. He scored eight more than the second highest, Dusan Vlahovic. So far, the club have yet to make any significant sales and are likely to head into this season with a similar squad which was so successful. Their biggest acquisition of the summer has been goalkeeper Josep Martinez from Genoa for €13.5m, whilst they also added veteran forward Marko Arnautovic.

Mehdi Taremi and Piotr Zielinski will also arrive on free transfers, with the former replacing the recently departed Alexis Sanchez. Taremi scored just six goals for Porto last season, but scored 22 the year before, as the club hopes he can bolster an already strong frontline. The Nerazzuri have placed in the top four in each of the last seven seasons, and are hoping to continue that streak and also make it a third title in five seasons.

2nd – Juventus

Italian giants Juventus are looking to end a four season title drought after finishing third last season. They will be under a new manager, with former Inter Milan midfielder Thiago Motta taking the reins. He replaces Massimiliano Allegri, who was in charge for a total of eight seasons across two different spells. Under Allegri they won five Serie A titles, but they decided it was time for a new direction following no top two finishes in the last four years.

Juventus are backed to make an improvement on last season, though are still expected to fall short, finishing behind Inter. They will once again rely on the goalscoring of Dusan Vlahovic up top, who scored 16 goals in 33 games last year. However, they only scored 54 goals as a team, a figure that must be improved if they want to seriously compete. In the top 10 of the table, only Lazio and Torino scored less goals.

To bolster their frontline, they are linked to Borussia Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi. Their biggest acquisition so far has been Douglas Luiz from Aston Villa, whilst they have also signed Khephren Thuram from Nice in an attempt to strengthen their midfield. Federico Chiesa has been linked with a move away from the club, but was the team’s second highest goalscorer with nine goals. Adrien Rabiot was next with five, though he has since left. This highlights the need for attacking reinforcements heading into the new campaign.

3rd - AC Milan

AC Milan enjoyed a good season last year, finishing second as runners up to their rivals Inter Milan. This will be their fifth season under manager Stefano Pioli, as he looks to win his second Serie A title with the club. Four of the last five seasons under Pioli has seen them finish in the top four, a position they are expected to achieve once more. However, after finishing the last campaign 19 points behind the champions Inter, there is still a lot of work to be done to close the gap.

No team in the top 10 of the table conceded more goals than Milan, signifying the need for defensive reinforcements this summer. They are on the verge of signing centre back Strahinja Pavlovic from RB Salzburg for €18m, whilst they are also in talks with Tottenham for Emerson Royal.

At the other end, they have the task of replacing the 15 goals scored by Olivier Giroud, as the Frenchman has left to join MLS side LAFC. They will hope to get another good season of output from Christian Pulisic, who netted 12 times, and will want to see an improvement from winger Rafael Leao, who scored nine last year after scoring 26 the two previous seasons combined. The Portuguese star has also set up his teammates well, providing at least eight assists in the last three campaigns.

4th – Napoli

After a disastrous title defence which saw Napoli finish 10th last season, the club are under new management in Antonio Conte. Conte, who has already managed fellow Serie A sides Inter Milan and Juventus in the last decade, has been tasked with the job of bringing Napoli back into European competition.

The Italian is backed for success, with Napoli tipped to return to the top four in the table. As a result of their poor campaign, the squad may look different come the start of the season. A reunion for Conte with striker Romelu Lukaku seems to be on the cards, whilst top scorer Victor Osimhen is on the way out. Last season, Osimhen scored 15 goals in 25 games, but is reportedly seeking to leave. Lukaku has had great success, bar a troubled spell at Chelsea, particularly during his time at Inter under Conte. In three seasons at Inter, he scored 57 league goals and won the league in 2021. More reinforcements are expected to come, including in midfield with the club linked with Brighton midfielder Billy Gilmour, who joined Chelsea in 2017 when Conte was in charge.

Amongst last season’s top ten teams, Napoli had the second worst defence and third worst attack, meaning Conte has a huge job on his hands to turn things around. However, with no European football and the calibre of coach they have appointed, expect Napoli to have an important bounce back campaign.

Atalanta

Atalanta finished in the top four last season and will play Champions League football in this upcoming campaign, but are not backed to repeat this feat. However, they will be well within the mix and are likely to be one of the main contenders for European football. They are one of the best attacking sides in the league with only Inter and AC Milan scoring more goals than them last season. They conceded just a little over a goal a game with 42, showcasing strengths at both ends of the pitch.

They also won their first European trophy in their history in May, as they defeated Bayer Leverkusen to lift the Europa League. They will hope to carry this momentum into the new campaign under manager Gian Piero Gasperini, who is entering his ninth season with the club.

Roma

Roma are another team who will be fighting for a European place next season. Last year, they finished in sixth place, despite sacking Jose Mourinho in January with the club in ninth place. He was replaced by Daniele De Rossi on an initial interim basis, but he led the side to the semi-finals of the Europa League and a top six finish. As a result he signed a contract to keep him in Rome until 2027.

Going forward, Roma had great success last season, scoring 65 goals in the league. Paulo Dybala and Romelu Lukaku netted 13 times each, though the latter will have to be replaced following the end of his loan. Roma have not finished in the top four of the table since the 17/18 season in which they came third. They have ended in sixth place in three consecutive seasons, a position they will be desperately hoping to improve.

Cagliari

Cagliari narrowly avoided finishing in the bottom three last season as they finished just one point clear of the drop zone in 16th. They largely struggled, winning just eight games and conceding 68 goals. Only the bottom three teams allowed more. Goalscoring was also an issue, with just 42. These troubles are highlighted by the fact that their top scorer, Nicolas Viola, netted just five times in 26 games.

They are under a new head coach in Davide Nicola, replacing Claudio Ranieri who stepped down. Nicola was in charge of fellow strugglers Empoli and guided them to safety last season, and he will look to do the same for Cagliari.

Empoli

Empoli navigated a dramatic escape last season as they survived relegation by a single point. They did so under the management of Davide Nicola, who joined in mid-January. However, he has now departed and been replaced by Roberto D’Aversa. Despite their great escape, there are plenty of issues that will leave them fighting for survival once more.

In particular their attack, they scored just 29 goals in 38 games, the worst in the division. Only one player, M’baye Niang, recorded more than five goals, and he did so in 14 appearances. Just four players managed more than one strike. As a result, it is likely that they will again be one of the teams trying to avoid the drop.

Venezia

After spending two seasons in Serie B, Venezia were promoted back to the top flight via the play-offs in which they defeated both Palermo and Cremonese. It came after a third place league finish, and they will attempt to stay in the division for a second season after failing to survive in 2022.

However, due to their history and inexperience in the league, this makes them a prime candidate to go straight back down. They were Serie B’s top scorers, but it remains to be seen how this translates in the higher division. Forward Joel Pohjanpalo was the division’s leading goalscorer with 22, and he will hope to bring this form into the upcoming season. They have also made a number of signings including midfielder Gaetano Oristanio and defender Giorgio Altare to bolster their squad.