Venezia and Fiorentina meet on 11 September 2026 at the Stadio Pierluigi Penzo with both clubs still pointless in Serie A. Venezia sit 18th after three straight defeats while Fiorentina are 20th after an identical run and the timing makes this uncomfortable for the visitors in particular: Paolo Vanoli was only appointed head coach on 7 September, just four days before kick off, following Fabio Grosso's dismissal. For Venezia, a home win would be a real early foothold after last year's promotion.
Stroppa and Vanoli have never met in competitive football, so there is no tactical history between them and both will have to impose their own systems rather than exploiting known weaknesses.
Venezia have lost all three of their opening matches: 0-2 to Lecce on 23 August, 0-2 against AC Milan on 28 August and 2-3 at home to Frosinone on 6 September. Fiorentina's run is equally bad: 0-4 to Roma on 30 August, 0-3 to Frosinone on 2 September and 1-2 at home to Torino on 5 September. The two sides have managed three goals between them across six matches.
Venezia are without Bartol Franjić (shoulder surgery, out around three months) and Marin Šverko (hip issue, back no earlier than October), losing two of their more experienced defensive players at once. Fiorentina are missing left back Fabiano Parisi, out until at least November with an ACL injury, which forces Vanoli to rethink his wide defensive structure from the very first match in charge.
Venezia play a 3-5-2 built around defensive shape and set piece organisation, with Ridgeciano Haps driving forward from the left wing back position, Gianluca Busio running the midfield as the primary ball progressor and Filip Stanković in goal. Fiorentina under Vanoli are moving toward a more disciplined 4-3-3, with David de Gea behind the defence and Nicolò Fagioli tasked with controlling tempo. Young Franco Mastantuono is the one to watch, drifting between the lines to pull defenders out of shape.
The most compelling midfield battle is Busio against Fagioli, one trying to break lines and the other trying to stop him. Parisi's absence likely pushes Fiorentina into a narrower defensive shape, compressing their backline and leaving their wing back channel exposed to Venezia's overlapping runs. With both back lines missing key personnel and not yet settled on their defensive shape, dead ball situations look like the most probable route to a goal, which matters all the more given that the two sides have scored just three times between them across six matches.
Venezia beat Fiorentina 2-1 in May 2025, the only concrete piece of head to head form worth citing. Both squads look considerably different now, so it is a thin thread to pull on.
Venezia's 3-5-2 gives them numbers in the box at set pieces, whereas Fiorentina's defensive structure has had exactly four days of training under Vanoli to take shape. That is a timing problem more than a system problem and it is a genuine one. Vanoli needing an immediate result in his first match after a chaotic mid season appointment only sharpens the stakes for the visitors.
We are calling 1-1. Venezia should be competitive enough at home to deny Fiorentina a clean win, particularly while the visitors are still learning Vanoli's system. The defensive absences on both sides point to something tight and low scoring and the underlying issue is not a lack of ambition: both centre back pairings are unsettled, both teams have been leaking goals freely and neither has generated any meaningful attacking momentum through three matches. With neither side looking reliable enough to come from behind, a routine delivery at a corner could easily be the difference.
Ryan Baldi
Football Writer
Ryan Baldi is a professional football writer with years of experience and has been featured by respected outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, Sky Sports, DAZN, FourFourTwo, ESPN, Yahoo Sport and Football365. He has also written several books including Arsène Who?.
