Serie A Preview: Milan vs Venezia – Team News, Lineups & Prediction | OneFootball

Buoyed by a morale-boosting opening-day win at Torino, Milan kick off their 2026/27 home season against Serie A newcomers Venezia on Friday. The upcoming clash at San Siro has all the makings of a ‘David vs Goliath’ clash, with the home side heavily favored to put three more points on the board.

New coach Ruben Amorim enjoyed a dream touchline debut in Serie A as Milan secured a 2-1 victory over Torino in round one. Teenage sensation Alphadjo Cisse became the youngest Italian to score for the Rossoneri in their maiden top-flight start since Patrick Cutrone in 2017, opening the scoring just past the hour mark.

Milan completed a quick-fire double through second-half substitute Adrien Rabiot, who set up the 19-year-old for the first goal. However, Amorim’s side failed to keep a clean sheet at the start of the season, as Che Adams scored a ‘Puskas Award’ contender in stoppage time to soften the blow for Ignazio Abate’s side.

Unlike their hosts, Venezia slumped on their Serie A return. Second-half goals from Olaf Gorter and Tiago Gabriel propelled Lecce to a 2-0 win at Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo. Still, the game wasn’t as one-sided as the scoreline might suggest, with the Lagunari seeing two of their goals disallowed by VAR.

Giovanni Stroppa’s team must now defy the odds if they’re to get off the mark in Serie A, but the task ahead can hardly be more formidable.

Match Preview

Milan

There’s a reason why Milan head into proceedings as odds-on favorites. The 19-time Italian champions have lost only once to Venezia since 1961, racking up 12 wins in 15 meetings in that period (D2). Furthermore, they’ve emerged victorious from their last five clashes against this opposition, prevailing by a multi-goal margin on each occasion.

Despite their remarkable head-to-head record, Milan would be well-advised not to take anything for granted. For context, they opened their home league campaign last term with a gut-wrenching 2-1 defeat to newly promoted Cremonese. Avoiding that fate here feels imperative for the Rossoneri, who are staring down the barrel of another unwanted feat.

Milan lost three of their final four home league outings last season (D1) and could go five consecutive Serie A matches without a win at San Siro for the first time since 2016. Venezia’s visit looks like a prime opportunity for Amorim’s side to get back on track, but it’s worth noting that they scored more than one goal in just two of their last ten league games at this venue.

Venezia

Playing on a Friday historically spells trouble for the visitors. Indeed, Venezia have failed to win any of their six Friday-held Serie A fixtures (D3, L3), scoring precisely once in five. Unfortunately for the traveling fans, history offers little promise of a more favorable outcome here.

You’d have to go back to 1946 for the last time Venezia snatched a victory across the opening two rounds of a top-flight campaign. It’s difficult to imagine them bucking that trend at San Siro, where they’ve lost two of their three Serie A encounters against Milan this century by at least a two-goal margin (D1).

Venezia’s string of bad luck doesn’t end there. They finished their previous Serie A campaign without a single away win (D8, L10) and are currently on a 26-game winless run in top-flight away matches (D10, L16). On that basis, it’s unsurprising that the odds remain firmly stacked against them here.

Team News

With Rafael Leao and Santiago Gimenez expected to leave in the final days of the transfer window, Amorim is unlikely to alter his starting forwards on Friday. Therefore, Goncalo Ramos and Cisse should lead the line, while Luka Modric and Rabiot should dislodge Ardon Jashari and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, respectively. Summer signing Diego Moreira will, in all likelihood, start on the bench again.

As for Venezia, Marin Sverko and Andrea Adorante, who scored 17 goals last season, remain on the sidelines. Summer addition Matias Moreno is also a doubt due to a muscle injury, meaning Stroppa could field the same starting XI that faced Lecce on day one.

Milan vs Venezia Potential Starting Lineups

Milan (3-4-2-1): Maignan; Gila, De Winter, Pavlovic; Chukwueze, Modric, Musah, Estupinan; Rabiot, Cisse; Ramos.

Venezia (3-5-2): Stankovic; Schingtienne, Bella-Kotchap, Franjic; Correia, Perez, Busio, Basic, Hainaut; Yeboah, Adams.

Milan vs Venezia Prediction

As if Milan’s dominant record in this fixture isn’t frustrating enough, Venezia’s rotten luck in Serie A away games makes it difficult to envisage anything other than another comfortable victory for the Rossoneri. The gap between the sides is too wide to ignore, which leads to only one conclusion.