Italian Serie-A Preview

The new season of Serie A gets underway this week with AC Milan and Lazio contesting the pick of the opening day fixtures.

Last week was due to herald the start of the new campaign, but a player strike ensured Milan would have to wait to defend their title

The Rossoneri are the heavy favourites to retain the Scudetto, but city rivals Internazionale will be hot on their tails after the summer signings of Diego Forlan and Mauro Zarate.

Juventus and Roma have also made some astute acquisitions, with the former persuading Andrea Pirlo to move from the San Siro, and the latter reinforcing their squad with La Liga duo Bojan Krkic and Fernando Gago.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the table, newly promoted duo Atalanta and Novara are expected to seal an instant return to Serie B, while Lecce could also be relegated, having survived by the skin of their teeth least term.

AC Milan (Title odds: 6/5)

Ins: Antonio Nocerino; Alberto Aquilani; Stephan El Shaarawy; Zlatan Ibrahimovic; Gianmarco Zigoni; Marco Amelia; Kevin-Prince Boateng; Philippe Mexes; Taye Taiwo.

Internazionale (Title odds: 2/1)

Ins: Andres Ona; Mauro Zarate; Andrea Poli; Diego Forlan; Jonathan; Ricky Alvarez; Rodrigo Alborno; Emiliano Viviano; Luca Tremolada; Dennis Esposito; Yuto Nagatomo; Luc Castaignos.

Juventus (Title odds: 13/2)

Ins: Eljero Elia; Marcelo Estigarribia; Emanuele Giaccherini; Mirko Vucinic; Arturo Vidal; Stephan Lichtsteiner; Matteo Trini; Alessandro Matri; Fabio Quagliarella; Marco Motta; Simone Pepe; Andrea Pirlo; Frederik Sorensen; Michele Pazienza.

Roma (Title odds: 10/1)

Ins: Fabio Borini; Fernando Gago; Miralem Pjanic; Simon Kjaer; Pablo Osvaldo; Ivory Coast ; Alain Pierre Mendy; Alessandro Malomo; Maarten Stekelenburg; Bojan Krkic; Gabriel Heinze; Jose Angel; Loic Nego; Erik Lamela; Emiliano Massimo; Enrico Citro; Gianluca Curci; Stefano Guberti.

Napoli (Title odds: 20/1)

Ins: Ignacio Fideleff; Cristian Chavez; Goran Pandev; Umberto Varriale; Gokhan Inler; Mario Santana; Miguel Angel Britos; Roberto Colombo; Antonio Rosati; Blerim Dzemaili; Lorenzo Insigne; Marco Donadel; Nicolao Dumitru; Edinson Cavan; Federico Fernandez.

Udinese (Title odds: 66/1)

Ins: Daniele Padelli; Roberto Pereyra; Gabriel Torje; Neuton; Zeljko Brkic; Abdoul Sissoko; IThierry Doubai; Barreto; Diego Fabbrin; Danilo..

Lazio (Title odds: 80/1)

Ins: Djibril Cisse; Marius Stankevicius; Federico Marchetti; Lorik Cana; Abdoulay Konko ; Antony Iannarilli; Senad Lulic; Miroslav Klose.

Fiorentina (Title odds: 80/1)

Ins: Gustavo; Santiago Silva; Kelechi Francis Ibekwe; Mattia Cassani; Houssine Kharja; Andrea Lazzari; Gianni Munari; Samuel Di Carmine; Romulo; Edoardo Pazzagli; Lorenzo Tafi; Matija Nastasic; Niccolo Manfredini; Paolo Rozzio; Samuele Bettoni.

Genoa (Title odds: 200/1)

Ins: Andrea Caracciolo; Cesare Bovo; Sebastien Frey; Nicola Pasini; Cristiano Lupatelli; Mattia Bottani; Francesco Bega; Kevin Constant; Mattia Destro; Danilo Russo; Fernando Forestieri; Riccardo Meggiorini; Alexander Merkel; Cristobal Jorquera; Kevin Vinetot; Lucas Pratto; Andreas Granqvist; Giacomo Beretta; Sebastian Ribas; Felipe Seymour; Valter Birsa; Ze Eduardo.

Palermo (Title odds: 250/1)

Ins: Edgar Alvarez; Edgar Barreto; Francesco Della Rocca; Franco Vazquez; Alexandros Tzorvas; Matias Aguirregaray; Matias Silvestre; Ignacio Lores; Andrea Mantovani; Mauro Cetto; Luca Di Matteo; Eros Pisano; Adam Simon; Carlos Labrin; Eran Zahavi.