Serie A Matchday 7 on 17 October 2026 puts bottom club Venezia up against Napoli at the Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo, with Davide Nicola taking charge for the first time after replacing Giovanni Stroppa on 14 October. The two managers have never met in competitive football, so there is no prior head to head to draw on. Venezia are 20th with zero points from six games, the only winless side in the division, having conceded at least twice in every competitive fixture this season, whereas Napoli are eighth on ten points and searching for consistency after a Champions League defeat to Villarreal in midweek. Massimiliano Allegri is also in a mid project phase, having taken over from Antonio Conte in early July 2026.
Venezia arrive on the back of six straight league defeats, the most recent a 1-3 home loss to Atalanta on 12 October and nothing about that run suggests a corner is about to be turned: defensive collapse, limited conversion, no points. Napoli's last five produced two wins and two losses, their best results being a 3-0 over Frosinone and a 1-0 at Bologna, before Villarreal ended their midweek in disappointment.
Going into this, Venezia are without Marin Sverko, Bartol Franjic, Andrea Adorante and Gianluca Busio, four absences that collectively strip Nicola's first squad of defensive cover, midfield depth and attacking options at once. Napoli have problems of their own, with Alessandro Buongiorno ruled out and both Mathias Oliveira and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa listed as doubts.
Nicola is expected to set Venezia up in a 3-5-2 or 3-4-2-1, the shape built around holding their defensive structure and hitting on the break rather than trying to match Napoli in possession. Toma Basic and Simon Sohm will carry most of the midfield load, shielding the back three and recycling the ball. John Yeboah and Akor Adams up front need to get in behind Napoli's defensive line early, with Yeboah's pace against Giovanni Di Lorenzo the most promising avenue, capable of forcing Di Lorenzo into recovery defending before Napoli can reset their shape. The absence of Busio and Franjic limits rotation and will test whether the remaining starters can sustain that intensity for ninety minutes.
Allegri's 3-4-3 or 3-4-2-1 is built around Kevin De Bruyne as the playmaker, with Rasmus Hojlund leading the line and Stanislav Lobotka providing midfield control alongside Scott McTominay. Buongiorno's absence reorganises the back three and if the doubts over Oliveira and Anguissa firm up into absences, Allegri may lean on a more cautious double pivot. The central contest is De Bruyne against Basic and Sohm in central midfield: if De Bruyne finds space between the lines, Napoli's attacks will flow freely and Hojlund's runs in behind will test a Venezia defensive line that has already shown it cannot be trusted in those situations.
Napoli have dominated this fixture historically, with Venezia's last Serie A win against them dating back to 1942. The hosts have been struggling to clear their lines under pressure all season and losing Sverko compounds that at dead ball situations, removing one of the few aerial presences they had in their own box.
Nicola's debut may well produce a more organised shape than Stroppa managed and Venezia will threaten on the counter through Yeboah and Adams, probably enough for one goal. Six matches without keeping a clean sheet, conceding at least twice every time, is the sterner argument, though. Venezia 1-2 Napoli: De Bruyne and Hojlund give Allegri enough to break down a side missing four players, even accounting for the absences of Buongiorno and potentially Oliveira and Anguissa.
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?.
