Lazio vs Venezia Preview & Prediction | 2024-25 Italian Serie A
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In the second-half of the season, Lazio took the decision to replace Maurizio Sarri with Igor Tudor and things almost immediately improved. However, there is another new man at the helm as they prepare to kick their season off against newly-promoted Venezia in the capital.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Sunday 18th August, 2024 - UK – 7:45pm / US ET – 2:45pm / US PT – 11:45am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – TNT Sports OR Not televised / US – Select matches will be televised on CBS Sports so it is worth checking their schedule
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – discovery+ OR Cannot be streamed / US – Paramount+
LAZIO PREVIEW: EXCITING TUDOR AND LAZIO
In a surprising turn of events, former Hellas Verona and Lecce boss Marco Baroni has replaced the combustible Igor Tudor in the dugout at the Stadio Olimpico. Lazio have had a relatively quiet summer in the transfer market with the biggest piece of business being the departure of long time club captain Ciro Immobile, who has joined Besiktas.
They have brought in Matteo Guendouzi on a permanent basis after his loan spell from Olympique de Marseille last season, with the most intriguing signings being Tijjani Noslin from Hellas Verona and Loum Tchaouna from Salernitana. Both Nuno Tavares and Gaetano Castrovilli have also arrived at the Stadio Olimpico.
VENEZIA PREVIEW: A MUCH CHANGED NEWLY PROMOTED VENEZIA
The biggest and most frustrating thing for Venezia this season is that after gaining promotion back to the top-flight via the Serie B playoffs last season, they lost their coach Paolo Vanoli to Torino so are starting from scratch in Serie A with former Roma and Frosinone boss Eusebio Di Francesco now at the helm.
Di Francesco is known for his attacking style of football that has got him sacked quite regularly. Last season, he made Frosinone into one of the best teams to watch in Italy’s top-flight but the Romans were eventually relegated back down to Serie B on the final day of the 2023/24 campaign.
LAZIO TEAM NEWS: NOT TOO MANY MAJOR ISSUES
One of their aforementioned new signings, Nuno Tavares, is sidelined through injury on the opening day alongside Paraguayan winger Diego Gonzalez, who did play at the Olympics for Paraguay.
Now that Ciro Immobile has departed the club, former Girona and New York City striker Valentin Castellanos will be tasked with making his mark as the absolute number one striker for Lazio.
PREDICTED XI (4-3-3): Provedel; Marusic, Patric, Romagnoli, Hysaj; Castrovilli, Guendouzi, Rovella; Pedro, Valentin Castellanos, Noslin
UNAVAILABLE: Nuno Tavares (Injured), Diego Gonzalez (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
VENEZIA TEAM NEWS: FRUSTRATING INJURY ISSUES
There have been some really irritating bits of injury news for Venezia to deal with ahead of this weekend with Gio Busio unavailable after playing at the Olympics in Paris this summer with the United States.
As well as Busio, new signing Gaetano Oristanio is also unavailable for the Venice-based club as well as former Iceland international Birkir Bjarnason and Finland international Joel Pohjanpalo.
PREDICTED XI (4-3-3): Joronen; Richie Sagrado, Idzes, Altare, Zampano; Tessmann, Ellertsson, Duncan; Perini, Gytkjaer, Raimondo
UNAVAILABLE: Busio (Injured), Jajalo (Injured), Bjarnason (Injured), Pohjanpalo (Injured), Oristanio (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
LAZIO VS VENEZIA PREDICTION
Lazio had already improved under the management of Igor Tudor so there will have to be a belief that Marco Baroni is in a good position to take that on further having escaped the pigeon holing of a just a promotion-winning manager and now finally getting one of Serie A’s big jobs. Venezia have lost their manager, are newly-promoted, have plenty of injuries and head to the capital on the opening day. Simply, avoiding a hammering would surely be a success for the away team.
LAZIO VS VENEZIA TIP: LAZIO TO WIN
