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Promoted Sides Verona, Lecce & Brescia Favored for Serie A Relegation

Gary Gowers

by Gary Gowers in Soccer News

Updated Apr 3, 2020 · 9:10 AM PDT

Verona Stadium
After winning the Serie B playoffs, Verona's Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi will this season be playing host to Serie A soccer. The big question is, can they survive? Photo by El Passs (Wiki Commons) [CC License]
  • Italy’s Serie A kicks off at the weekend
  • Verona favorites for the drop
  • The other promoted teams, Lecce and Brescia, also in the frame

It all kicks off in Italy this Saturday, when champions Juventus go to Parma for the Serie A season opener on August 24, 2019, at 12:00 pm EST. Juve are red-hot favorites to win the title yet again, but at the other end of the table, it is much harder to call.

Serie A 2019/20 – Odds to Be Relegated

Team Odds
Verona -225
Lecce -180
Brescia -120
Parma +200
Genoa +300
SPAL +300
Cagliari +350
Sassuolo +500
Udinese +600
Bologna +700
Sampdoria +1600

*Odds taken 8/22/19

The three teams promoted, Verona, Lecce and Brescia, are all in odds-on territory to be sent back down, but is it really as simple as betting on all three to be relegated, or is there a better bet somewhere else? I’ll have a look at the runners and riders.

Verona

The bookies are basing their odds on the fact Verona finished last season in fifth place in Serie B – a whopping 15 points behind the winners, Brescia and 14 behind second-placed Lecce – but they have earned their place in Serie A by doing it the hard way.

2024 Serie A Odds Tracker
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A preliminary round win in a one-off tie with eighth-placed Perugia was followed up with a two-legged semifinal win over Pescara, and a thrilling playoff final win over Cittadella, with Verona overturning a 2-0 deficit from the first leg to win 3-2 on aggregate.

A very busy summer in Verona has seen with no fewer than 19 new faces arriving, nine for a fee, seven on loan and three free transfers. If these new players are quickly integrated and able to settle, relegation is by no means a certainty.

Lecce

The Giallorossi have also seen changes aplenty over the summer; not on a Verona scale but still with 13 new faces. After finishing well ahead of Verona and only a point behind Serie B winners, Brescia, they have worked on the basis of adding to their squad rather than rebuilding their team.

A tight defense will be key to their survival chances and two new full-backs and a centre-back are among their summer buys, so it will be important they settle quickly.

A tough season awaits, but to build on last season’s success and not lose that momentum will be important to their survival chances.

Brescia

The Serie B winners will, like Lecce, be looking to build on last season’s success and use that promotion ‘bounce’, but they have also spent 13 million euros over the summer.

Their two big outlays have been on Jesse Joronen, a Danish goalkeeper, for five million euros and Jaromir Zmrhal, a Czech midfielder for nearly four million.

Another team that is in for a tough season but who have what it takes to survive if they can get off to a good start.

Parma

It’s been a summer of massive change at Parma with a large-scale overhaul of the squad. Last season they made their return to Serie A after fighting their way back through the fourth, third and second tiers of Italian football after a dramatic fall from grace.

And the Gialloblu had a good season last after some good work in the transfer market with big signings such as Gervinho and Roberto Inglese. They surprised many with their style of play.

They are now looking to consolidate and more, with signings like  Hernani from Zenit St. Petersburg and Yann Karamoh from Inter. Rather than fighting relegation, they will be looking for a top-eight finish.

Genoa

Last season was one to forget in the Grifone, and they retained their Serie A status by the narrowest of margins. They only survived courtesy of a superior head-to-head record with Empoli, with both teams having finished level on points.

But a very eye-catching summer in the transfer market looks to have strengthened Genoa, with Cristian Zapata’s arrival on a free from AC Milan adding some much-needed experience and leadership at the heart of their defence.

More of the same and Genoans will be gone but if the new signings click, a mid-table finish is achievable.

SPAL

As one of Serie A’s smaller clubs, SPAL has done well in recent seasons to become established as Serie A regulars, with manager Leonardo Semplici doing well to improve the team season-on-season. They will be hoping to take another step forward in 2019/20.

It hasn’t been an easy summer for the Ferraresi though and it’s been more about players departing than coming in.  Established players like Mirco Antenucci, Manuel Lazzari and Pasquale Schiattarella have left and these are not easy players to replace. It could be a tough one.

Cagliari

Manager Rolando Maran has been backed in the summer transfer market and is under pressure from the Cagliari hierarchy to improve their fortunes this time around. Another 15th place will simply be deemed not good enough.

Belgian midfielder Radja Nainggolan has returned to the Sardegna Arena and will definitely bolster the midfield that is now without the talents of youngster Barella. Also in midfield, Nahitan Nandez from Boca Juniors and Fabrizio Cacciatore from Verona have been added to the squad.

On paper at least, this looks a stronger Cagliari squad.

My picks: Verona, Lecce and SPAL to be relegated

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