Club football moves quickly. In a blink of an eye, the curtain raiser turns to the final matchweek in the calendar and yet another season will come to pass.
Those at the top of their leagues as of the moment aren’t guaranteed to keep their spot for so long as they would like. Some early pace-setting teams falter halfway through the year, failing to sustain their robust charge at the start.
That is why most fans and pundits alike aren’t overreacting to certain movements at the top of the table during the first few matchdays.
But it would be remiss if we fail to praise, or at least recognise, the improvements done by certain teams during this stage of the season. In Serie A, for example, numerous teams have surprised everyone by starting out strong, putting their early struggles last year behind them.
After five matches played, the likes of Torino, Udinese and Empoli have shown that they are here to shake things up. Maintaining, however, this stellar form throughout the season is another topic altogether.
But for now, let us give these squads their rightful flowers.
Torino
With three victories and two draws, they are one of the only three unbeaten teams that remain in the Italian top flight, along with Juventus and Empoli.
This start is a far cry from how they fared in their first five matches last season.
Back in 2023/24, Torino—under Ivan Juric at that point in time—had an alright start, winning two matches (Salernitana and Genoa), settled for a draw twice (Cagliari and Roma) and fell to Milan in a 4-1 loss, putting them ninth in the table—the place where they’d finish the season in.
But with a new coach along with several key players joining, Torino have immediately staked their claim as early contenders.
They were unlucky to not come out as victors in their season opener against AC Milan, surrendering a two-goal lead in the dying moments of the match. Il Toro then defeated Atalanta after conceding first and edged out Venezia after Saul Coco’s 86th-minute goal.
A goalless draw followed suit against Lecce, with a thrilling 3-2 win over Hellas Verona capping off a positive start for the club.
Duvan Zapata and Che Adams are the early standouts for the Turin outfit, and should they continue their form throughout the season, then it would be a joyous campaign at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino.
Udinese
Unlike Torino last season, I Friulani had a disastrous first five games in their 2023/24 campaign. No wins, three draws (two of which they failed to score) and two defeats. They finished that year with six wins and escaped relegation due to a tonne of draws despite relegated teams having more wins than them.
Indeed, it was a season to forget.
Fast forward to today, and they’ve now won 50 per cent of their win totals from last season, doing so in just five matches contested.
After a draw with Bologna in their opening match, Kosta Runjaic’s side won three straight over Lazio, Como and Parma. These results catapulted them to the top of the table, which was one of the club’s best starts to their season.
Only a 3-0 defeat against Roma last time out derailed their momentum. But with their next Serie A match going up against defending champions Inter, it’s looking like I Friulani will return to Earth sooner than later.
Empoli
If someone will ask you that after five games, there will only be three undefeated teams in the league, will Empoli be on top of your head when saying your answers? Most definitely not.
That’s why it’s to the shock of everyone that the Azzuri Empolesi are proving to be tough customers to deal with, earning points against Juventus and Roma (winning against the latter), and beating Cagliari and the league leaders Torino (the latter, in a Coppa Italia match).
Their improvement is leaps and bounds after losing their first five matches last season in an aggregate score of 11-0, which included a 7-0 demolition by Roma.
But they now have a new boss in Roberto D’Aversa—who was sacked by Lecce after head-butting a Verona player last season—and he’s done well so far.
Regardless of their form, the SBOTOP Serie A 2024 odds do not think that Empoli can keep this up. Nonetheless, they’ve been a joy to their fans—an unforgettable five weeks.
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