Only one of last season’s three newly-promoted teams failed to survive, and recent history has shown even some of Italy’s biggest institutions are at risk of falling by the wayside. We look at how the bottom half of the table is shaping up in 2025-26, as well as the latest Serie A relegation odds.
Serie A Relegation Odds 2025-26
As many as seven teams were battling for survival in the closing weeks of last season, and despite much of the focus being centred around Inter Milan and Napoli’s Scudetto chase, the relegation battle was equally fascinating.
Italy’s top-flight has been kinder on newly-promoted teams compared to some of Europe’s other top leagues, although the latest relegation odds on offshore sportsbooks suggest two out of the three newcomers could sink straight back down.
Serie A Newly Promoted Teams
Cremonese
Cremonese were the third and final team to secure promotion to Serie A after sweeping aside Spezia in the Serie B play-off final in June.
After a goalless stalemate in the first leg of the play-off, a five-goal flurry in the second saw Cremonese run out eventual 3-2 victors, and secure promotion to Serie A after a two-year absence. Prior to that, Le Cremo had been wallowing in the lower leagues for almost two decades, so this promotion still feels like a monumental moment for the club.
They are, however, odds-on to drop back down to Serie B, having scraped promotion. They finished a full five points behind third-placed Spezia in Serie B, only to beat them in the play-offs, while fellow newcomers Pisa and Sassuolo finished 15 and 21 points ahead respectively.
Whether those gulfs in points translates to next season remains to be seen, but it is hard to ignore Cremonese fortuitous promotion journey.
Pisa
Pisa, now led by legendary Italy striker Alberto Gilardino, ended a 34-year absence from Serie A after gaining promotion last season.
It was, however, another legendary striker that proved to be the catalyst for success, with promotion guru Filippo Inzaghi masterminding Pisa’s promotion before departing for Palermo this summer.
For a club who have had to endure the hardships of bankruptcy and relegation to the fifth division, the Tuscans’ ascendance to Serie A has been miraculous.
Gilardino will now be the man tasked with cementing Pisa’s place in the top-flight, and he has a strong foundation with which to build. They were the second-strongest defensive team in the division last term, marshalled by a back-three of Antonio Carraciolo, Arturo Calabresi and Simone Canestrelli, and have managed to keep hold of their core players over the summer.
In particular top scorer Matteo Tramoni, who netted 13 goals in Serie B from midfield. He will be enthused by the arrival of a new central midfield partner, teenager Isak Vural, who arrives as an exciting prospect from Frosinone.
Pisa have the dogged spirit to survive in Serie A; they ranked 17th for average possession throughout last season, underlining their tendency to dig out results, even when they appear to be hard-pressed.
I Nerazzurri are also fortunate in that Pisa is a hugely popular tourist destination, with a marketable club. They can take inspiration from Como’s successful top-flight infiltration and position themselves for marketing and sponsorships, that will no doubt help sustain their new-found position and unshackle them from years of finanical hardship.
Sassuolo
Sassuolo’s relegation in 2023-24 came as a crushing blow to the town, who had become accustomed to mid-table finishes at the very least.
From the fourth tier of Italian soccer to the highs of the Europa League soccer in the space of a decade, Sassuolo’s surprise fall from grace, having finished 13th the year prior, was perhaps the jolt to the system the club needed.
The Neroverdi were by far and away Serie B’s preeminent side last season, clinching the title by a six-point margin and racking up the most goals.
How they will contend without top scorer Armand Lauriente, who is expected to leave despite a move to Sunderland collapsing at the final hour, remains to be seen.
Striker Nicholas Pierini was the only other player to register double digits for the season, although goalscoring was healthy across the board with four players clocking in with six goals or more.
The club have also sought to bring in a wealth of top-flight experience, including loan deals for Marseille’s Ismael Kone, Torino’s Sebastian Walukiewicz and Como’s Alieu Fadera.
Serie A Relegation Contenders
Hellas Verona are being pegged as the likeliest of Serie A’s existing teams to face the drop — even more so than Sassuolo.
This is despite finishing a full six points above the relegation zone, and in front of the Cagliari, Lecce and Parma — all of whom are also in contention once more.
Experts believe Verona were somewhat fortunate to survive given only rock-bottom Monza conceded more goals, whilst 34 goals scored across 38 games is a worrying metric for their prospects next season.
The departure of hugely promising Italy U21 international Diego Coppola to Brighton will leave a gaping hole in an already vulnerable back line.
Elsewhere, Lecce stick out as one of the more likely teams to be battling for survival. Not only did they only secure survival on the final day of the season thanks to a miraculous 1-0 away win at Lazio, but they managed just 27 goals all season — the least in Serie A last term.
Their saving grace came in the form of 10 draws — including huge results away at Atalanta and Juventus — which helped to offset a total of 20 losses.
