Serie A preview: AC Milan vs. Venezia – Team news, opposition insight, stats and prediction
AC Milan will play their first home game of the 2026-27 season on Friday night, facing Venezia in the round’s early kick-off.
Milan began the Ruben Amorim era in the best possible way, going away to a tricky opponent in Torino and emerging with three points. Now, attention shifts to facing a newly-promoted team in what will be a San Siro welcome for the new coach.
In his pre-match press conference on the eve of the game, Amorim gave some fascinating and passionate responses to questions about the excluded players, Francesco Camarda’s role and other individuals. Above all, he is looking forward to seeing the home fans.
Game date: Friday, August 28 Kick-off time: 20:45 (CEST) Venue: San Siro Referee: Gianluca Manganiello (VAR: Camplone)
Team news
The lasting memory that Milanisti have from playing at home is the 2-1 defeat against Cagliari that ended the 2025-26 campaign, completing a collapse that had been two months in the making and condemning the Rossoneri to a fifth-placed finish.
Going from a Scudetto fight in early Spring to not even getting Champions League football was always likely to draw a profound revolution. One was forthcoming less than 24 hours after the final whistle, as Massimiliano Allegri, Igli Tare, Giorgio Furlani and Geoffrey Moncada were all sacked.
The new iteration of Milan is almost unrecognisable. Amorim is at the helm as mentioned, with ‘traditional’ director figures replaced by data-driven internal promotions. Things started well with the win at the weekend and there are reasons to be optimistic, but always with extreme caution.
In terms of team news, the biggest headline concerns Rafael Leao. The winger returned to full training during the week but now seems to be on the verge of an exit, with Aston Villa and Galatasaray fighting it out at the time of writing. Thus, he is unlikely to be involved.
There were some worries about Mario Gila after he hobbled off during the final 20 minutes of the victory in Turin, having seemed to overstretch in a tackle. However, it was diagnosed as cramp and he has been preparing as normal.
Thankfully there are no further bulletin items on the injury front, so Amorim has a full squad to pick from. With another few days under their belts, the likes of Adrien Rabiot, Luka Modric, Christian Pulisic and Diego Moreira will surely be closer to 100%.
At present, it seems as though Amorim is tempted to stick with the line-up that raised some eyebrows in round one but ultimately delivered a performance with the kind of intensity, verticality and control that he wanted.
Thus, it should be Mike Maignan in goal protected by a three-man defence of Mario Gila, Koni De Winter and Strahinja Pavlovic from right to left. Samuel Chukwueze and Pervis Estupinan are tipped to remain as the wing-backs.
The midfield double pivot of Ardon Jashari and Yunus Musah may well end up being retained too, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek and last weekend’s hero Alphadjo Cisse getting the nod to start behind the striker Goncalo Ramos.
The doubts are as follows: Matteo Gabbia could challenge De Winter for the middle CB role; Moreira is a candidate for both wing-backs spots; Modric could come back in at Jashari or Modric’s expense; and Rabiot might oust Loftus-Cheek after his excellent substitute appearance vs. Torino.
Predicted Milan XI (3-4-2-1): Maignan; Gila, De Winter, Pavlovic; Chukwueze, Jashari, Musah, Estupinan; Loftus-Cheek, Cisse; Ramos.
Predicted bench: P. Terracciano, Torriani, F. Terracciano, Gabbia, Diawara, Bartesaghi, Moreira, Comotto, Modric, Rabiot, Saelemaekers, Pulisic, Camarda.
Injuries & suspensions: None.
The opponents
Venezia are back in Serie A for their third spell in recent years, having won Serie B last season. They racked up 82 points in a tight promotion race, pipping Frosinone to the title and finishing six points ahead of third-placed Monza, who won the play-offs.
The challenge for the Venetians is always going to be to stay in the top division, and they have done some business this summer which suggests they are ready to make a better fist of it than in the last couple of season.
They have kept hold of Andrea Adorante, who fired them up with 17 goals in Serie B. He has competition now though, with Akor Adams arriving from Sevilla for €16m. They could be the first-choice pairing in coach Giovanni Stroppa’s 3-5-2.
Other business includes spending €7.5m on another striker in Albion Rrahmani from Sparta Praha, €7m to get Armel Bella-Kotchap from Hellas Verona, and €5m on Redouane Halhal from KV Mechelen.
They also paid €3m or less for Kornel Lisman (winger, Poznan), Ale Gomes (centre-back, Zaragoza), Bartol Franjic (centre-back, Wolfsburg), Mattia Campagnon (wing-back, Juventus) and Lorenzo Berardi (wing-back, Pescara).
Matias Moreno could be a good loan signing from Fiorentina, while they also signed Toma Basic, Thierry Correia, Thorir Helgason and Federico Tavernaro on free transfers to bolster the depth.
In what was a potential six-pointer as early as the first game of the season, Stroppa’s side were given a tough reminder of the levels required as they lost 2-0 at home to Lecce. Olaf Gorter and Tiago Gabriel got the goals.
It could be described as a bit of a smash-and-grab though, as Venezia had 71% possession, 19 shots to their visitors’ 12, 5 big chances to 4, and forced 6 saves to the 2 that Filip Stankovic had to make. Serie A can be cruel like that, though.
In terms of selection news, Venezia will be without the injured duo of Marin Sverko and Adorante, with the latter important for aforementioned reasons. The summer signing Moreno is also a doubt with a muscle issue, so the defence (Schingtienne, Bella-Kotchap, Franjic) is not set to change.
Adams should be joined in the front two by John Yeboah, who amassed 19 goal contributions last season. Correia, Perez, Busio, Basic and Hainaut are expected to be the midfield five from left to right.
Predicted Venezia XI (3-5-2): Stankovic; Schingtienne, Bella-Kotchap, Franjic; Correia, Perez, Busio, Basic, Hainaut; Yeboah, Adams.
Predicted bench:
Injuries & suspensions:
Head to head
Milan and Venezia have faced each other 33 times, with the first meetings being all the way back in 1936-37. The Rossoneri have been victorious in in 22 of these, with seven draws and four wins for the Lagunari.
The last meeting at San Siro was one of the best performances of Paulo Fonseca’s brief rain, as Theo Hernandez, Youssouf Fofana, Christian Pulisic and Tammy Abraham all scored within the first 29 minutes in a 4-0 win.
The last meeting in Venice, meanwhile, was another win and a clean sheet in April 2025. Pulisic scored early then Santiago Gimenez sealed it late on, with 0-2 the final score in favour of Sergio Conceicao’s men.
Key facts and stats
➤ AC Milan have won all of their last five Serie A matches against Venezia, scoring at least two goals on each occasion and keeping a clean sheet in the last four, which is their longest run of consecutive clean sheets against them in the competition.
➤ Venezia have lost 18 Serie A matches against AC Milan (W4 D6 L18); they have not suffered more defeats against any other side in the top-flight, level with the 18 losses against Juventus.
➤ Milan are unbeaten in their last 10 Serie A home matches against Venezia (W8 D2); among current top-flight teams, the Rossoneri have a longer ongoing unbeaten home run only against Lecce (14) and Torino (30), while they also have a 10-game streak against Bologna.
➤ Milan lost their first home game of last season’s Serie A campaign (1-2 against Cremonese), ending a run of 11 consecutive wins and one draw; the Rossoneri have not lost their first home match in two consecutive seasons since 2008-2009, when they were defeated by Bologna and Inter respectively; that was also the last time they went three years in a row without a win (a draw in 2007).
➤ Venezia have not won one of their opening two Serie A matches since 1946; since then, across 19 games played in nine different seasons plus the current one, they have recorded a balance of five draws and 14 defeats.
➤ Venezia have participated in the most seasons in the Italian top-flight (14) without ever winning their opening away game of the tournament (D3 L11).
➤ Ruben Amorim won his debut against Torino, and eight AC Milan managers have won their first two Serie A matches after making their debut at the start of the season; of these, only two have done so in the three-points-for-a-win era: Alberto Zaccheroni in 1998 and Filippo Inzaghi in 2014.
➤ Milan attempted 19 shots on MD1 of the Serie A season, all of which came from inside the box; this is at least six more shots from inside the box than any other team in the competition this season.
➤ Alphadjo Cissè scored his first Serie A goal for AC Milan aged 19 years and 305 days; should he score against Venezia, he would become the youngest player to score in his first two Serie A appearances for the Rossoneri in the three-points-for-a-win era (19 years and 310 days), surpassing the record held by Mario Balotelli and Andriy Shevchenko, who achieved this aged 22.
➤ Venezia were one of only two teams (alongside Bologna, 1.78) not to score on the opening matchday of this Serie A season despite registering an Expected Goals value of more than one (2.05). Venezia also had seven players attempt at least two shots in that match, more than any other side (Hainaut, Franjic, Rrahmani, Yeboah, Correia, Busio, Adams).
Ones to watch
The players to mention for Milan are quite obvious, starting with the teenage sensation Alphadjo Cisse. He is almost certain to get another start as mentioned, and if he convinces again then he might just make the role his own without the need for any market intervention.
The two summer signings Mario Gila and Goncalo Ramos will be expected to lead at both ends again, while eyes will be on Diego Moreira if he makes his debut. All across the pitch there are players still fighting to prove they should keep their place, so that adds a layer of intrigue too.
John Yeboah is the one to watch on the counter for Venezia, after such a good 2025-26 for the Ecuadorian and with Adorante out. Gianluca Busio is an impressive midfield anchor who amassed 11 goal contributions last season, and as a USA international he knows Musah and Pulisic well.
The pillars of the team are centre-back Joël Schingtienne and wing-back Antoine Hainaut. They started 35 and 36 games respectively last season, and everything suggests that Stroppa will continue to lean on them again this time.
Prediction
We think and hope that the Diavolo will have enough to get the job done. Expecting a rout like the last time these two met at San Siro doesn’t feel right for a few different reasons, but an early goal to calm the nerves would be lovely.
It will be far from a training drill though, against a fast and technical side. Above all, this feels like a great opportunity for some of the new faces to bed in further ahead of next weekend, which is the potentially daunting trip to face Juventus away from home.
Milan 2-0 Venezia
