Serie A PREVIEW | Milan v Venezia

Seeking to secure their first victory of the season, Milan welcome newly promoted Venezia at the San Siro this weekend.

There has been a growing concern over Paulo Fonseca’s future at Milan as he has yet to make a positive impression of himself since being appointed head coach of the club at the start of the season. The 2-1 defeat to Parma did not go well with the Rossoneri management and the two draws following spells of out-of-sorts performances has raised the question over Fonseca’s appointment. 

Milan hoped to collect the three points from their last match but a stunning rejuvenation from Lazio made them share the spoils. Strahinja Pavlovic opened the scoring in the 8th minute before the Biancocelesti overturned the deficit and took the lead through Valentin Castellanos and Boulaye Dia after half-time. The visitors could salvage a draw thanks to Rafael Leao’s 72nd-minute strike.

Fonseca is in desperate need of a win to save his job as potential managerial candidates like Massimiliano Allegri and Thomas Tuchel have arrived on the horizon.

Meanwhile, Venezia have struggled to find their feet throughout their history whenever they featured in the Serie A. 

The Venice-based side crashed out of the Coppa Italia after a 3-1 defeat to Brescia and a similar scoreline haunted them in their season opener versus Lazio. While Magnus Andersen put Venezia on the front foot in the match, they soon lost momentum and Lazio thumped in three goals. 

Manager Eusebio Di Francesco is preparing his side for challenging times this season. Considering Milan’s form this season, Venezia has the chance to pull off a massive upset. 

Results from their last five matches across all competitions

Milan:

D L D W W 

Venezia:

L D L L W

Team News

Tammy Abraham is expected to be handed his first start of the season tomorrow as Alvaro Morata returned to training mid-week.

Ismael Bennacer and Alessandro Florenzi are with long-term injuries. 

As for Venezia, Joel Pohjanpalo has returned from injury and is in contention to start the game.

Gianluca Busio has recovered from his knock after spending a fortnight out and therefore Di Francesco has a full squad to choose from.

Predicted XIs

Milan (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Calabria, Tomori, Pavlovic, Hernandez; Fofana, Reijnders; Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Leao; Abraham

Venezia (3-4-2-1): Joronen; Idzes, Svoboda, Sverko; Candela, Duncan, Nicolussi Caviglia, Zampano; Oristanio, Ellertsson; Pohjanpalo

Trambak Bhattacherjee | GIFN