Serie A Power Rankings Heading Into Round 1

Here we go! The Italian Serie A 2011-12 is expected to get underway on Saturday. Of course, this is in doubt with the recent talks involving the players' strike.

If the strike takes place, the league will not start until after the two-week international break.

However, we need to be ready for the original kickoff date. With that in mind, I finally present my initial power rankings for the 2011-12 season.

I will be updating my power rankings every Monday. Changes will depend on results, including factors which contributed to the result (resting players, minor injuries, etc.). I will be doing this every week throughout the season.

So without further ado, the pre-Round 1 Italian Serie A power rankings for the 2011-12 season.

20) Lecce

2010-11 Final Table Position: 17th

Round 1 Opponent: @ Inter Milan

I have a feeling Lecce go down this year and would be lucky to find their way up anytime soon.

Outside of David Di Michele, there is really no key players and in an already weak squad, there was no attempt made at improvement this summer. In reality, one of the best additions was Rodney Strasser, if not the best, on loan from Milan.

It is going to be a long season for the Wolves. It seems unlikely that they finish out of the bottom three. Odds are they finish bottom of the table.

19) Siena

2010-11 Final Table Position: Serie B Runner-up

Round 1 Opponent: Fiorentina

Back up after a year in the second division of Italian football, Siena are trying to impress and show that they belong with the best in Italy.

Despite having veterans such as Paul Codrea, Emanuele Calaio and Simone Vergassola leading the way, it could be a tough test for Robur to stay up in the top flight for more than 38 games.

I know people will say the Premier League and La Liga are the two best leagues in the world and they're right, but along with the Bundesliga (and Premier League), Serie A is one of the most competitive.

Siena will have the ability to compete, but even in the lower half, it will be difficult to stay alive.

They have a chance, but push come to shove, it may be a tough climb.

18) Novara

2010-11 Final Table Position: Serie B Promotion Playoff Winner

Round 1 Opponent: Palermo

Novara are an inexperienced team. What else can I say?

It will be interesting to see how they fare this year, but at the moment, I have them pegged for relegation.

17) Atalanta

2010-11 Final Table Position: Serie B Champions

Round 1 Opponent: Cesena

Like Siena, Atalanta were a one-and-done in Serie B, but like Siena and fellow promoted side Novara, they also face the challenge of trying to survive.

It is a difficult road, but Atalanta may be the one team that survives.

The club has been there before and has some solid pieces to work with. Simone Tiribocchi, Gianpaolo Bellini and Edgar Barreto are among the players that can keep La Dea in the top flight beyond this season.

The Serie B champion has not been relegated in their promotion season since Como were relegated in 2003. If history is any factor for you, Atalanta will survive. I like to look at historical happenings, but it is not my sole basis.

The fight to survive will be gruesome for all bottom-half teams, but Atalanta can stay the course.

16) Catania

2010-11 Final Table Position: 13th

Round 1 Opponent: @ Parma

Maxi Lopez has the goal-scoring ability to save Catania.

Traditionally a lower-half team, Catania face the prospect, like others, of dealing with the challenging Serie A bottom half, which is more competitive than most other relegation battles. This time, they may find themselves clutching to their spot in Serie A with their fingertips.

With a couple of talented players like Lopez and Pablo Ledesma, Catania may be in with a chance at survival.

15) Bologna

2010-11 Final Table Position: 16th

Round 1 Opponent: Roma

Bologna are not normally a threat for the upper half of the table, but they normally manage to stay out of the relegation zone.

With an elite goal scorer in Marco Di Vaio, Bologna are always a threat to the bigger clubs come matchday. The depth is not there to compete for honors, but relegation is not likely.

14) Chievo Verona

2010-11 Final Table Position: 11th

Round 1 Opponent: @ Lazio

Sergio Pellissier still leads the attack, but Chievo Verona really have no cause for excitement this season. They will be a decent team with a chance at stealing points from the big clubs, but middle of the bottom half is a fair prediction of where the club will be this year.

13) Genoa

2010-11 Final Table Position: 10th

Round 1 Opponent: @ Napoli

Genoa made a great move for Sebastian Frey this summer, but being one of the mid-table teams in the league, there will be a lot of teams bunched together in the middle. Fiorentina, Palermo, Genoa, Parma and Cesena will all be close to each other this season, separated by only a few points. Positions nine through 13 in Serie A last season were separated by a mere five points.

I find it hard to believe that this year will be any different. Being 13th in Serie A is not as bad as it seems.

12) Cagliari

2010-11 Final Table Position: 14th

Round 1 Opponent: AC Milan

Massimo Ficcadenti joins Cagliari after a successful season as manager at Cesena, where he brought much outside excitement to the club.

With Cagliari, he will have a talented squad, which includes the likes of Andrea Cossu, Daniele Conti and newcomers Moestafa El Kabir and Almin Ekdal.

The additions of Ekdal and El Kabir will be great for the club which lost Andrea Lazzari to Fiorentina.

Being in that mid-table zone, Cagliari could finish anywhere from around eight to 13. It will be interesting to see how things pan out.

11) Parma

2010-11 Final Table Position: 12th

Round 1 Opponent: Catania

I feel like Parma are the sweetheart of Serie A. I do not know why. It seems like they always find a way to captivate with a big win.

After their performance against Juventus at the end of last season, led by the young wonder Giovinco, they proved that they have what it takes to be a feisty competitor in Serie A.

They do not have the means to return to European play at the moment, but a top-10 finish is not out of the question.

10) Cesena

2010-11 Final Table Position: 15th

Round 1 Opponent: @ Atalanta

Yeah, people are gonna call me crazy, but Cesena is going to be a decent team this season.

After a fantastic first go-around in Serie A, the Cavallucci Marini are looking good after a solid summer during which they brought in Adrian Mutu, Eder, Marco Rossi, Roberto Guana and Marko Livaja on permanent moves and Martinho, Vincenzo Rennella and Antonio Candreva on loan. This is a good-looking team and they can potentially compete to finish higher than 10th.

Adding the likes of Mutu and Eder to the established core of Mauizio Lauro, Erjon Bogdani and Company after the solid season Cesena had last season, showing their menacing capabilities against many of the big clubs, means that Cesena will be a tough draw for any team this season.

9) Palermo

2010-11 Final Table Position: Eighth

Round 1 Opponent: @ Novara

Palermo will have a decent season. They still have the likes of Fabrizio Miccoli, Josip Ilicic, Antonio Nocerino, Abel Hernandez and Federico Balzaretti. However, the Rosanero will have to deal with the loss of two vital players to Paris Saint-Germain: Javier Pastore and Salvatore Sirigu.

With two vital pieces of the team gone, Palermo may slip a bit, but they are still a competitive team.

8) Udinese

2010-11 Final Table Position: Fourth

Round 1 Opponent: Juventus

I thought Udinese could handle life without Gokhan Inler, Alexis Sanchez and Christian Zapata, but they looked off against Arsenal in their Champions League playoff round fixture.

The rhythm seemed off for Udinese and while they are still a strong club, they are not as strong as they were last season when they were able to finish fourth.

As I have constantly repeated, the Serie A is very competitive. Udinese could finish anywhere in the upper half, but a repeat of last year's success is unlikely.

7) Lazio

2010-11 Final Table Position: Fifth

Round 1 Opponent: Chievo Verona

Lazio looked good last year, but they will be the club most affected by the revival of Roma and Juventus.

Led by Hernanes, Tommaso Rocchi, Mauro Zarate and Stefan Radu, Lazio added some talent in the way of Federico Marchetti, Djibril Cisse, Lorik Cana, Abdoulay Konko and Miroslav Klose.

It will be a strong squad that Lazio put out on the pitch this season, but unfortunately for them, they will be a victim of the revival of two giants.

6) Fiorentina

2010-11 Final Table Position: Ninth

Round 1 Opponent: @ Siena

Alberto Gilardino continues to lead the way for the boys at the Artemio Franchi, but really good news for Fiorentina is the return of Stevan Jovetic.

The Montanegran missed all of last season with an injury after making a lot of noise with his play in both Serie A and the Champions League (five goals in six games in the 2009-10 season). He has been considered a little Baggio when healthy. Whether he can get back to that point or not remains to be seen, but we shall see.

La Viola feature a strong midfield with Andrea Lazzari, Riccardo Montolvio and Juan Manuel Vargas. They can definitely make a fight to return to Europe.

5) Roma

2010-11 Final Table Position: Sixth

Round 1 Opponent: @ Bologna

Roma had quite a summer. Under new American owner Thomas DiBenedetto, the Giallorossi brought in Maarten Stekelenburg, Gabriel Heinze, Jose Angel Valdes, Bojan Krkic, Erik Lamela and made Marco Borriello's loan from AC Milan a permanent deal. The club lost Doni to Liverpool, Jeremy Menez to PSG, John Arne Riise to Fulham and Mirko Vucinic and Philippe Mexes to rivals Juventus and Milan, but the club is looking good.

Jose Enrique has been brought in as manager from Barcelona B, winning him from many interested clubs throughout Europe. With a new manager, a strong group of incoming players and a talented pool of veterans including Daniele De Rossi, Simone Perrotta and Francesco Totti, Roma are looking like a team that could turn some heads this season and get back into the Champions League talk.

4) Inter Milan

2010-11 Final Table Position: Second

Round 1 Opponent: Lecce

This season, Serie A loses a Champions League spot, dropping from four to three. Because of this, there will be casualties for clubs that normally expect to be in the elite competition.

Inter Milan, the 2009-10 Champions League winners, may be a casualty of the new league rankings, which saw Serie A drop to fourth behind the Bundesliga, giving away their fourth-place spot.

Inter have time to change this. They have until August 31st to sign some new players with the money the club received from Anzhi Makhachkala for Samuel Eto'o.

The biggest move from Massimo Moratti has been bringing in Ricardo Alvarez from Velez Sarsfield. The 23-year-old could make a positive impact in the midfield, but age is an issue for the club. Lucio and Walter Samuel are 33, and Javier Zanetti is 38. The age in the back could seriously hurt Inter. They have already proven to be a weaker team than Milan, being outclassed in the Italian Super Cup.

Up top, Goran Pandev will be the only main attacking option on the bench. Giampaolo Pazzini will rack up some goals, but the club will need a combination of attacking production from Pandev and Diego Milito and a demonstration of youthfulness from their elder defenders if they want to finish top three.

In reality, Giam Piero Gasperini needs to invest.

3) Napoli

2010-11 Final Table Position: Third

Round 1 Opponent: Genoa

Walter Mazzarri happily brought in Gokhan Inler and Luca Cigerini to an already well-fueled team.

The Azzurri were the bright light in Serie A last season, finishing in third when few saw it coming. Led by Marek Hamsik, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Edinson Cavani, Christian Maggio and Paolo Cannavaro, Napoli will be a title contender once again this season.

No one knows how Juventus will fare, though on paper they are the stronger squad. Napoli may be able to snag the second-place spot and avoid the treacherous Champions League playoff round.

2) Juventus

2010-11 Final Table Position: Seventh

Round 1 Opponent: @ Udinese

Wow. Talk about a shopping spree.

Juventus spent $108 million this summer, bringing in the likes of Mirko Vucinic, Stephan Lichtsteiner and Arturo Vidal while making Alessandro Matri, Marco Motta, Simone Pepe and Fabio Quagliarella's loan deals permanent.

Add in the free moves for Andrea Pirlo, Reto Ziegler and Michele Pazienza, and Juventus are dangerous this year.

The team was already talented with the likes of Milos Krasic, Luca Toni, Alessandro Del Piero and Leonardo Bonucci, among many others; Juventus appear to be a major title contender once again.

Juventus have not won the title since 2005, a title which was later stripped in the Calciopoli scandal, but this could be the year they change that. With such a new-looking team, it is yet to be seen how they will fare as a team, but on paper, Juventus look real good.

1) AC Milan

2010-11 Final Table Position: First

Round 1 Opponent: @ Cagliari

They are the reigning champions, they have only gotten better from last season and they feel that only Barcelona are superior to them right now.

AC Milan look primed for a second straight Scudetto.

The additions of Taye Taiwo, Philippe Mexes and Alberto Aquilani make Milan even stronger than the side that gave up only 24 goals last season, the league's best by 15 goals. Even without Taiwo and Mexes for at least the first month, Gianluca Zambrotta and Alessandro Nesta are top defenders who can step in and provide solid defense.

Aquilani improves an aged midfield that normally saw the likes of Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf and Massimo Ambrosini. It now looks like Aquilani and Kevin-Prince Boateng will be the central mids with Mark van Bommel in a holding role and either Antonio Cassano or Robinho at attacking-mid.

Look for even more goals this year out of the incredible attack that features Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Alexandre Pato, Robinho and Antonio Cassano. Ibra, Pato and Robinho each tallied 14 last year and are all expecting more this year.

If Milan can get through the initial injury hurdle and stay healthy all year, they can easily retain the title.