Previews · Serie A ·
Venezia vs Inter: Nicola's Venezia have to keep Marcus Thuram quiet to climb off the bottom
- Kick-off
- Venue
- Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo, Venice
Our call: Venezia 1–3 Inter · Inter win
Venezia have not yet shown they can stop Thuram and Inter's wing-backs, and Inter have goals all over the side.
We'll mark this call after full time.
Logged 26 Oct, 07:16 UTC, never edited.
In 30 seconds
- Inter are top on 22 points, level with Lazio; Venezia are bottom on 3, all of them from Nicola's first game.
- Inter are without Lautaro Martínez, Benjamin Pavard, John Stones and Curtis Jones, all injured.
- Nicola has given Venezia a pulse, but not a defence that can live with this Inter attack.
The story
Davide Nicola has been Venezia's coach for two games. He took over from Giovanni Stroppa after a run of defeats and won his first match, 1–0 at home to Napoli on Sat 17 Oct, with Akor Adams scoring early in the second half. That gave Venezia their first points of the league season. Eight days later they lost 1–0 at Genoa, where Mikael Egill Ellertsson scored against his old club, and they are still bottom.
Cristian Chivu's Inter come in from the other end of the table, having left it late. On Sun 25 Oct they were losing 1–0 at home to Fiorentina with the clock past 90 minutes; Marcus Thuram equalised in stoppage time and Piotr Zieliński won it with a penalty. Ivan Provedel made his debut in goal. The win took Inter level with Lazio at the top, and it came without Lautaro Martínez, who strained his left hamstring in the defeat by Club Brugge and is not expected back until after the international break.
The table shows what each side needs. Inter have 22 points from eight games and the better goal difference, +13 to Lazio's +11. Venezia have 3 from eight and a goal difference of −11, and a home win would take them to 6, off the bottom and above Udinese, Fiorentina and Parma on 4.
This decides it: whether Venezia's defence can hold Thuram and Inter's wing-backs for 90 minutes. They have conceded in nine of their last ten, and Inter have scored 25 goals in theirs. Venezia need their best defensive night of the season to stay in it.
Form
Four defeats in five, and four goals scored.
Twelve goals in five. Their last ten also hold a 2–0 friendly win over Lumezzane on 3 Oct.
The games, with scores
| Venezia | 25 Oct | at GenoaSA | L 0–1 |
| 17 Oct | v NapoliSA | W 1–0 | |
| 12 Oct | at AtalantaSA | L 1–3 | |
| 19 Sep | v LazioSA | L 0–2 | |
| 11 Sep | v FiorentinaSA | L 2–4 | |
| Inter | 25 Oct | v FiorentinaSA | W 2–1 |
| 21 Oct | v Shakhtar DonetskUCL | W 1–0 | |
| 17 Oct | at BolognaSA | W 3–1 | |
| 13 Oct | v Club BruggeUCL | L 3–4 | |
| 10 Oct | v ParmaSA | W 3–0 |
Latest first. Latest on the left. SA = Serie A, UCL = Champions League. OddsIntel match database, read 25 Oct 2026.
Team news
Checked Sun 25 Oct 17:45 UTC: Football Italia (both clubs), inter.it (Lautaro's medical update, Thu 15 Oct) and Corriere dello Sport (Venezia). Reported means the club has not confirmed it for this match. Line-ups: confirmed about an hour before kick-off; they go under Updates. We don't publish guessed XIs.
Bonny, one of the four Inter players on two goals in their last ten, did not start against Fiorentina but came on for Esposito after 64 minutes, so he is fit. Inter played on Sun 25 Oct and play again on Wed 28 Oct, so expect Chivu to change a few of the eleven below.
Inter 3-5-2 · v Fiorentina, 25 Oct
- Provedel
- BisseckAkanji (key battle)Bastoni
- DioufBarellaÇalhanogluMkhitaryanCarlos Augusto
- EspositoThuram
- YeboahAdams (key battle)
- HapsBašićPérezSohmHainaut
- Juan JesusMorenoHalhal
- Stanković
Venezia 3-5-2 · at Genoa, 25 Oct
Who to watch
The duel to watch: Akor Adams against Manuel Akanji. Adams is the man Venezia play towards; Akanji sits in the middle of Inter's back three. If Adams can hold the ball up against him, Venezia's midfield gets up to help; if Akanji wins those duels, Venezia will spend the game in their own half.
Venezia
Akor Adams
Venezia's centre-forward, the man they look for whenever they win the ball back.
- 1
- goals, Venezia's last 10
Inter
Marcus Thuram
Leads the line without Lautaro, and his stoppage-time equaliser started the comeback against Fiorentina.
- 2
- goals, Inter's last 10
Inter
Carlos Augusto
Started at wing-back against Fiorentina, and Inter's goals come from wide as well as through the middle.
- 2
- goals, Inter's last 10
Goals with a known scorer in each side's last ten games, all competitions. OddsIntel match database, read 25 Oct 2026.
Head-to-head
Every meeting we hold (3, back to 2024). Inter won all three, two of them by a single goal.
Every meeting we hold (3, back to 2024). Result for Venezia. Every meeting we hold (3, back to 2024). OddsIntel match database, read 25 Oct 2026.
Numbers that matter
Goals scored, last ten: Venezia 10, Inter 25 (higher is better)
Inter scored three or more in five of their last ten.
Goals conceded, last ten · fewer is better: Venezia 21, Inter 15 (lower is better)
Inter are not tight at the back either: four went in against Club Brugge.
Games without scoring, last ten · fewer is better: Venezia 4, Inter 0 (lower is better)
Venezia drew a blank in four, the latest at Genoa on 25 Oct.
Last ten games each, all competitions (Inter's include one friendly). OddsIntel match database, read 25 Oct 2026.
Our call, explained
Our call: Inter win 3–1. The gap in the table is real, but the reason is Inter's attack against Venezia's back line. Venezia have let in 21 goals in their last ten, and Inter arrive with goals from all over the side, wing-backs included, even without Lautaro. We expect Inter to score at least twice. We also expect Venezia to get one, because they scored in six of their last ten and Inter have let in a goal in seven of theirs, including Jiménez's opener on Sun 25 Oct.
Where this could go wrong. Inter play their third game in eight days, and if Chivu rotates heavily, a Venezia side that beat Napoli 1–0 could nick a point, and a draw is the likelier slip than a home win. The other way, Venezia lost 5–1 the last time they played Inter, and if the first goal comes early, three is the floor for Inter, not the ceiling.
Updates
Nothing has changed since we published. Next: Chivu's and Nicola's pre-match news, then confirmed line-ups, about an hour before kick-off.
Data note: results, scorers, the table and line-ups from our database, read 25 Oct 17:40 UTC, so the counts run to Venezia's game at Genoa and Inter's against Fiorentina, both on 25 Oct. Player goal counts include only goals with a known scorer, so treat them as minimums. Team news, positions and match details from Football Italia, inter.it and Corriere dello Sport.
Our call was timestamped by an independent service before kick-off, Mon 26 Oct, 07:30 UTC.
How the timestamp works
Timestamped before kick-off by an independent service (DigiCert, RFC 3161), Mon 26 Oct, 07:30 UTC. The call file is the exact version that was timestamped. The file with our call and its timestamp token: call file · timestamp. Its fingerprint (sha256):
697fa054711b79d2f145a0c8590dd54381892ccc715b935c9719ce7e585e771c
Our calls so far
- calls right
- 27/42
- home win every time
- 19/42