Serie A: Stats, facts, and team news ahead of the opening day of the 2019/2020 season

Темы: TV Schedules, Juventus, Napoli, Roma, Inter, AC Milan, Serie A

Here's all you need to know ahead of opening day of the 2019/2020 Serie A season.

With the Premier League, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, and La Liga already having kicked off, Serie A finally joins the party to complete the "Big 5" with league action starting this weekend.

Reigning champs Juventus will travel to face Parma, while runners up Napoli will take on a Fiorentina side who barely avoided the drop. Meanwhile other sides, like Inter, who are now under the guidance of Antonio Conte will be seeking to end Juve's reign as the no. 1 side in Italy, while their cross-town rivals AC Milan will be desperate to battle their way back into a European football spot after being excluded due to falling foul of financial fair play.

Team news: Who's missing out on matchday one?

Here are some of the players who won't be able to feature for their respective sides:

Juventus: Mattia Perin (Shoulder Injury)
AC Milan: Mattia Caldara (Cruciate Ligament Rupture), Theo Hernandez (Ankle Ligament Injury)
Inter: Diego Godin (Muscular injury)
Napoli: Hirving Lozano (Bruise)
Roma: Leonardo Spinazzola (Muscular issues)

Stats and facts: What's at stake ahead of matchday one?

This will be the FOURTH matchday one meeting between Parma and Juventus, and so far, the Bianconeri have a record of W3 D0 L0 from their three prior clashes with the Crociati
Torino coach Walter Mazzarri has never lost to Sassuolo (W4 D2) and he's certainly not going to want to lose that perfect record this Sunday
Opening day hasn't been kind to Verona - especially when they've managed to be back in the top flight. The Gialloblu have won just one of their last nine season openers (D1 L7). Will they have better luck against Bologna?
Inter have lost just one of the last 15 matches they've hosted Lecce (1-0 in November 2000)
Roma have won their last 12 home games against Genoa in all comps
Fiorentina will be hoping to end their scoreless run at home. The Viola have failed to score in their last five at the Stadio Artemio Franchi

Talking points ahead of matchday one

Has the Mauro Icardi saga finally come to a rest?

All summer, it seemed like Icardi would leave Inter. There were numerous reports that new coach Antonio Conte didn't want him in the squad and indeed, the Argentinian striker was left out of the team's pre-season tour and was training away from the rest of the group. However, as a move to Juventus - his apparent preferred club never came to fruition - Icardi was suddenly seemingly welcomed back into the fold.

The Nerazzurri don't seem keen on selling him to Juventus, period. His number 9 shirt has now been given to new arrival Romelu Lukaku and now he's been given the number 7 shirt while suddenly he's back re-training with the team.

So does this indicate signs of a rapprochement between the two sides? Or is it actually just an appeasement for now until they can offload him as the Serie A transfer window hasn't closed just yet? We'll just have to wait and see.

Fiorentina's signing of Franck Ribery

Meanwhile, Fiorentina have given their fans something to really cheer about as they've secured the services of experienced winger Franck Ribery on a free transfer. Although he's in the advanced stages of his career, the Champions League and multi-Bundesliga winner certainly has a lot to offer the Viola, who barely escaped relegation last term. Fiorentina will be desperate to get back on track this season and hang onto young starlet Federico Chiesa, who has been trying to force his way out of the club due to their failure to qualify for European football, and even if they do lose him, Ribery's arrival at least has given the team something to look forward to this season.

Will he be enough to help keep them afloat? Perhaps. They've also brought in Kevin-Prince Boateng, himself no stranger to playing in Serie A after his odd move to Barcelona from Sassuolo went bust and Boateng will also be looking forward to helping the team's cause this season.

The return of Mario Balotelli

"Super Mario" is back in town - this time, he's really back. The enigmatic striker was linked with a move to Brazil, but opted instead to sign with newly promoted Brescia, which just so happens to be his hometown club. Balotelli is hopeful to get a chance to feature for the Italian national team at EURO 2020. Whether that's a realistic hope or just a pipe dream remains to be seen, but Brescia are hoping he can help them remain in Serie A this season, at the very least.