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If there is one thing I have come to love over the years it is how unpredictable football can be. Just when you think you know exactly how a game is going to go, something out of the ordinary can happen. That is my excuse for being hopeless at making forecasts for the season ahead.
Mind you, that doesn't stop me trying. This time around, however, I have decided to avoid predicting who will win the Scudetto (Roma), the Coppa Italia (Juventus) or the Champions League (Inter). I have tried to analyse who might be the surprise side of this year's Serie A campaign.
I toyed with a few teams. I was tempted to predict that the Flying Donkeys of Chievo might rise again. I studied Torino to decide if they might finally live up to expectations. I even cast an eye across the water to Cagliari. But in the end I kept coming back to Bologna.
Let me make it clear, I discarded a couple of sides on the basis that they would not constitute a genuine surprise. I expect Napoli and Sampdoria to do well again this season, but they did the groundwork last year. But if the boys from the Dall'Ara could finish in the top half of the table it would truly be a revelation.
There is a high risk element in my deductions. The Rossoblu have made wholesale changes this summer which may or may not work out. Still, I like the look of the team they have constructed. If they can find a striker worth 15 goals a season or so they could be a real force to be reckoned with.
Sergio Volpi guarantees good shape to any team he is part of, while Gaby Mudingayi is the kind of player who provides drive and purpose in midfield. If any of their young South Americans proves to be any good that would give them an extra dash of quality.
In many ways, of course, they are a sentimental choice too. The last great piece of the Serie A jigsaw, really, as all the biggest teams in the history of the Italian game have returned to the top. They have always been a tough side to beat on their home patch and there is no reason why that should change this year. And, if they can click, they might just be able to burst back into the top 10 teams in the country.
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