The Italian top flight is one of the leading European domestic leagues, although it has become less of a betting proposition since it was embroiled in a match-fixing scandal in 2006. As a result, Juventus were relegated to Serie B for the 2006/7 season and Milan were deducted eight points, which resulted in their rivals Internazionale winning the title by 22 points. They proved to be banker material for many punters, losing just one of their thirty-eight league matches and winning thirty!

Naturally, as Serie A starts to regain credibility, more and more of us will look at the various punting opportunities available. Similarly to the Premiership, there are only four, maybe five teams who can win the title, namely Internazionale, Milan, Juventus, Roma and Lazio. The latter are worth special attention next term if they can maintain their superb defensive record of conceding just nine goals in nineteen home matches.

As with all the top domestic leagues, many of the best teams will compete regularly in European competition, so it’s well worth keeping an eye out for managers resting key players ahead of a big Champions League or UEFA Cup clash. A perfect example of this last season was Milan losing 3-2 at home to Udinese just days before their Champions League final triumph over Liverpool. The reason? Milan rested their entire team for the match. Udinese’s price? Upwards of 5/1.