Serie A fixture watch: Lazio v Napoli highlight of opening weekend

A look at some of the key fixtures ahead

The Serie A season is coming into view now, with just over two weeks until the action gets started.

There have been some huge transfers in Italy this summer, most notably Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival at Juventus, which means it could be a cracking campaign.

Before it gets underway, the Coral News Team have looked ahead to some of the highlights on the fixture list…

Opening weekend

Juventus kick-off the Serie A season and their title defence with a trip to Chievo on Saturday 18th August. The Old Lady are comfortable 2/7 favourites to start the Cristiano Ronaldo era with a win.

Later that evening, Lazio host Napoli in a very promising match-up. Both sides love to fly forward. And there’s the added intrigue of Carlo Ancelotti taking charge of Napoli for the first time. The visitors are narrow 11/8 favourites. Lazio are 7/4.

Saturday sees Parma’s return to the big time at home to Udinese. The 1999 UEFA Cup winners secured three straight promotions after being declared bankrupt and demoted to Serie D in 2015.

It’s 27/20 that the Gialloblu mark the occasion with a win. Udinese are slightly longer at 21/10.

Derby days

There’s no shortage of intense derbies in Italy’s top tier, with the three standouts arguably being the Milan derby, the Rome derby, and the Derby d’Italia.

Inter Milan host the first Milan derby on 21st October. AC Milan have home advantage, for whatever it’s worth here, on 17th March. With both clubs having recruited well, these games could have a major bearing on the top-four race.

Roma and Lazio will both be pushing for a Champions League spot too. Roma host their great rivals on 29th September, with the return fixture on 3rd March.

The Derby d’Italia is a clash between Juventus and Inter Milan, who represent Turin and Milan respectively, the two biggest cities in North West Italy. They meet at the Allianz Stadium on 7th December and the San Siro on 27th April.

Final weekend

The final weekend mirrors the first one, which means Napoli v Roma could be a huge contest if Champions League qualification is at stake.

SPAL v Bologna could be a relegation six-pointer, while Cagliari and Empoli could both be playing for survival too.

Big match previews, betting tips and transfer news – Coral has it all.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing