First official game of the season, what to expect?

So, after a long summer of ins and outs in the transfer market, we are finally here. The first official game of the season.

Calcio. Coppa Italia. Pisa – Bologna.

What a day, and how I’ve looked forward to this, even though I am not quite sure I’ll get to watch the match, because, you know, Norway is not the best place to watch Coppa Italia. Still, it’s a great day.

I am very much looking forward to see what kind of team we’ll get to see. I’m expecting the likes of Takehiro Tomiyasu and Stefano Denswil to get the nod in defence, whilst young, promising midfielder Kingsley Michael should start in midfield. Given Erick Pulgar’s departure, Blerim Dzemaili’s fitness issues, and generally a lot of question marks surrounding our midfield, Michael is definitely a player who can make his mark this season.

It will also be quite interesting to see who’ll start up front. As always, I’ve got quite the soft spot for Mattia Destro, and I’m hoping that this will be his year. A start tonight against Pisa, a couple of goals and a strengthened confidence before the league starts, could do wonders for our campaign.

I’m also hoping that we’ll get a first glimpse of Andreas Skov Olsen. From what I’ve watched of him, we have got a great talent on our hands, and Pisa is a good first game for him to show us that he wants to play regularly this season. We will have to wait to see Jerdy Schouten though, as he has struggled with his fitness.

Short blog post today, fingers crossed for this evening.

Photo: Bologna FC