AS Roma vs Venezia preview, H2H, team news, line-ups and prediction

AS Roma’s new head coach, Ivan Juric will aim for back-to-back wins in Serie A when AS Roma hosts newly promoted Venezia at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday.

After an inspired end of the 2023-24 season where they finished the second half of the campaign with a string of positive results, optimism grew among the Giallorossi faithful and beyond for what was expected to be a top-four challenging season.

With a high-spending transfer window that saw the club reinforce key areas of the squad with some notable signings including Artem Dovbyk, Matías Soulé, Alexis Saelemaekers, Mario Hermoso, Mats Hummels and others, one would expect the three-time Italian champions to begin the season on a high note to mount a possible title charge.

However, things didn’t go as planned as an opening day draw to Cagliari and a loss to Empoli at Stadio Olimpico raised weary and concerns over the club’s underperformance.

Further draws to Juventus and Genoa left the Italian club in 16th position on the table which ultimately led to the sacking of Daniele de Rossi.

With only three points from their first four games, Roma’s board decided to bring in former Torino manager Ivan Juric to take over.

Despite unrest from supporters last weekend, the Giallorossi secured their first victory of the season, defeating an in-form Udinese 3-0 with goals from Artem Dovbyk, Tommaso Baldanzi, and Paulo Dybala.

After a strong start in difficult conditions, Juric sought to guide his team to a win in their Europa League opener. With Dovbyk scoring in the first half against Athletic Bilbao, they seemed set for another victory. However, a late equaliser in the 85th minute saw the Basque team depart Rome with a point, slightly diminishing the impact of an otherwise solid showing.

They’ll now hope for back-to-back Serie A wins when they host 18th-placed Venezia at home.

After earning promotion from Serie B, Venezia has faced a tough start in Serie A this season. Their only win, a 2-0 victory over Genoa, remains their only points in five matches. Heading into Sunday’s match in the capital, the signs aren’t encouraging. Venezia hasn’t scored in either of their away games and leads the league in penalties conceded, with three already this season.

Venezia will be aiming to secure their first top-flight away victory over Roma since 1947, as the Lagunari have not triumphed in any of their last eight visits to the capital. Their current coach, Eusebio Di Francesco, returns to his former team with hopes of ending this lengthy winless streak, following his recent milestone of 300 games and 100 victories as a Serie A manager after a win against Genoa last week.

With only one point from their first four matches, Venezia sat at the bottom of the table and had already been eliminated from the Coppa Italia, failing to score since their opening game. Yet, last season’s top scorer during their Serie B playoff campaign, Joel Pohjanpalo, redeemed himself by netting a late second goal after missing a penalty, adding to Gianluca Busio’s earlier strike at Stadio Penzo.

More than a third of Di Francesco’s 100 career wins came while coaching this week’s hosts, but he has yet to claim a single Serie A victory against them. Roma is the team he has faced the most times without ever winning, losing nine out of 12 encounters.

AS Roma vs Venezia match details

• Date: Sunday, 29 September, 2024
• Location: Rome, Italy
• Venue: Stadio Olimpico
• Kick-off time: 02:00 PM BST, 01:00 PM UTC, 03:00 CEST
• Referee: Rosario Abisso
• Tickets: Supporters can buy AS Roma tickets through the club exchange or via trusted resellers like Seatsnet.com.

Match stats and head-to-head

• Roma have recorded only one win in five Serie A matches this campaign.

• Venezia have also won just one of their five Serie A matches this season but have lost four of those matches.

• The Giallorossi have scored five and conceded three goals so far this campaign.

• Roma is the team Venezia’s head coach, Eusebio Di Francesco has faced the most without winning, losing nine of his last matches against them.

• Di Francesco celebrated his 300th game and 100th career victory as a manager in the Italian division after beating Genoa last week.

•Venezia have not won an away match against Roma since 1947.

• The Lagunari are winless in their last eight matches at the Stadio Olimpico.

• Venezia’s best string of results against Roma came in the 2021-22 season where they won one and recorded one draw.

• In the last five matches between these two sides, The Giallorossi have recorded two wins against the Lagunari’s solitary victory while two of these fixtures have ended in a draw.

• In a run that stretches back to last season, Roma have won just two of their last seven matches at the Stadio Olimpico across all competitions.

• Roma are on a 23-match scoring streak at the Stadio Olimpico — their longest scoring streak since 2017.

• The Giallorossi are also on a 19-match scoring streak against Venezia.

• Following his 49th-minute strike against Udinese, Paulo Dybala is one goal away from equalling Gonza Higuain’s 125-goal tally as the joint-third highest-scoring Argentine in Serie A history.

Team news

Paulo Dybala was forced off at halftime during the UEFA Europa League clash against Athletic Bilbao on Thursday due to a muscle issue, meaning Matias Soule is likely to take his place in Roma’s attack while Artem Dovbyk is expected to lead the line upfront.

Club captain, Lorenzo Pellegrini is set to return from a knee injury that kept him out midweek, while Enzo Le Fee, Alexis Saelemaekers, and potentially Dybala and Zeki Celik remain sidelined.

Venezia will see the return of Hans Nicolussi Caviglia from suspension, though Bjarki Bjarkason remains sidelined with an injury, while Alfred Duncan and Giorgio Altare are doubtful.

Following their much-needed victory in the match against Genoa last Saturday, the head coach is likely to stick with a similar lineup, meaning Joel Pohjanpalo will likely partner Gaetano Oristanio in attack, with United States international, Gianluca Busio pushing forward from midfield.

Predicted starting lineup

AS Roma predicted starting lineup:

Svilar; Mancini, Ndicka, Hermoso; Abdulhamid, Pisilli, Cristante, Angelino; Soule, Pellegrini; Dovbyk.

Venezia predicted starting lineup:

Joronen; Idzes, Svoboda, Sverko; Candela, Andersen, Nicolussi Caviglia, Busio, Zampano; Oristanio; Pohjanpalo.

Prediction

Roma’s head coach, Ivan Juric will be eager to continue a run of form that would uplift the club close to the top four.

They’re five points below first-placed Torino and a win on Sunday afternoon would keep them at touching distance, bar results from other clubs.

Losing or recording a draw against Venezia could spur another series of unrest among fans who are likely to give up hope of a top-four finish.

This shows how important the game against Venezia is and they’ll hope to record a second successive win against the newly promoted side.

The Lagunari on the other hand secured their first victory last weekend and will hope to spark a run of positive results as a loss could take them further down the pecking order.

We’re predicting a 2-1 win for AS Roma.