The state of play in Serie A after GW8

With the 2018/19 Serie A season already over a fifth of the way through, it is looking like a familiar story in Italian football as Juventus lead the way at the top of the table by quite some distance as they look a strong bet to claim their eighth staight Scudetto.

The 'Old Lady' have recorded eight wins from eight so far this campaign, with their tally of 18 goals for unmatched by anyone despite big-money summer signing Cristiano Ronaldo needing time to start firing.

Their 100% start means they already boast a six-point lead over Napoli in second, who suffered a damaging 3-1 defeat to Juve at Juventus Stadium back in September.

Inter Milan suffered a frustrating start to the season, losing two and drawing one of their first four games of the campaign, but five straight wins since suggest they are back on track, with the 'Nerazzurri' sitting two points back from Napoli in third.

Lazio round off the Champions League spots, with Sampdoria and Roma currently occupying the Europa League places having each only fallen to defeat twice since the start of the campaign. 'Samp' actually boast the best defensive record in the division, having conceded just four times in their eight games of the season so far.

There is then a bottleneck in mid-table, with no fewer than six teams sitting on either 12 or 13 points, though both Milan and Genoa do have a game in hand following the postponement of the meeting between the pair as a mark of respect folloiwng the Morandi Bridge collapse. 

Ninth-placed Parma are by far the most surprising entry, having only returned to the top flight in the summer form Serie B. A 1-0 victory over Inter at San Siro back in mid-September has been the highlight of their campaign so far but there have certainly been plenty of encouraging signs for the fallen giants of Italian football.

At the other end of the table Chievo appear to have an almighty battle on their hands to retain their top-flight status as they sit on -1 point after having three points deducted for falsifying player sale accounts. Parma, along with Frosinone in 19th, have yet to claim a single win in their eight games and as the two teams with the leakiest defences in the division they look likely to be playing second-division football next season.

Empoli are the other team that sit in the dreaded drop zone, but with five points to their name, a respectable goal difference (-5) and just a point separating them from safety they look in a much better position to force their way up the table.

One surprise name as the wrong end of the table is that of Atalanta, with the Bergamo-based side having grown more used to competeing for a European place in recent seasons. However, just one win from eight games means they hover precariously above the trap door at this stage of the season.

With Cristiano Ronaldo making a big-money summer move to Serie A it was assumed that the Golden Boot race would be something of a foregone conclusion.

However, there is a surprising name leading that goalscoring charts at this stage of the season, with Genoa's Kyzystof Piatek having plundered nine goals in just seven games so far, finding the net in every game to become the first player since Gabriel Batistuta in 1994/95 to score in each of his first seven games of a Serie A season. 

Just back from him are Napoli star Lorenzo Insigne (six) and Lazio's Ciro Immobile (five), with Ronaldo included in the huddle of players including AC Milan loanee Gonzalo Higuain on four.

Last season's joint-top scorer Mauro Icardi failed to find the net until Inter's sixth game of the campaign, but has scored three in his last two outings.