Venezia – Udinese

Should we expect the teams to trade goals?

Venezia have suffered defeat for the third round in a row. Last Sunday at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, the "winged lions" faced Como. The hosts defended well, and the Azzurri created their first chance only in the 24th minute. However, toward the end of the first half, Fabregas's men opened the scoring with a penalty. The second half passed without any notable chances. A run of negative results led Udinese to change their coach. The match against Roma was Kosta Runjaic's last in charge of the team. The Romans, through Cristante, opened the scoring as early as the tenth minute. The "Wolves" briefly allowed their opponents to have the ball, but between the 30th and 40th minutes they scored three more times! At the start of the second half, Zaniolo reduced the deficit, and half an hour later Palma scored the Zebras' second goal. However, there was no talk of a comeback, and in stoppage time Ghilardi scored the Giallorossi's fifth goal as well. The opponents have already met this season. In the September Coppa Italia match, the Bianconeri hosted the Venetians at the Stadio Friuli. The "winged lions" took the lead in the ninth minute, but the teams went into halftime level thanks to a goal from Bayo. The Ivorian scored again in the second half, securing a comeback victory for the Zebras. Notably, four of the last five meetings between the sides ended with both teams scoring. The Venetians are seriously underperforming according to their xG metric. Statistically, the Arancioneroverdi should have scored nine more goals. It is also noteworthy that, despite conceding 20 goals, the team has a slight underperformance in xGA as well. The Friulians have a minor underperformance, but the coaching change will obviously affect their statistical indicators. The arrival of Paolo Zanetti is the Bianconeri's main hope of avoiding relegation. However, even a change of coach cannot solve the team's personnel problems. As is traditionally the case for them, the Friulians have a strong chance of conceding. Moreover, Venezia have failed to score in three consecutive rounds and are hungry to end that run. They have not failed to score because of poor form, but because of the strength of their opponents. However, the return of Zaniolo and the coaching change also give hope that the Friulians can score. Taking all factors into account, it can be assumed that the scoreline will not remain goalless in the upcoming match.