Venezia begin their Coppa Italia season against Modena at Stadio Penzo on 15 August, and the first job is to see whether a busy summer already looks like money well spent. Akor Adams is Venezia's club record signing, Toma Bašić arrived from Lazio on a free transfer, and both are part of a side that should be stronger than the one that finished last season.
Venezia's new attacking core
The expected XI gives a decent clue to how this tie may look. Venezia's possible lineup includes Stankovic; Schingtienne, Bella-Kotchap, Halhal; Correia, Sohm, Busio, Bašić, Haps; Yeboah, Adams, with the new arrivals right in the middle of it.
Sports Mole's preview put the expectation in plain terms: "Venezia must be strong favourites as they have home advantage and a much stronger squad."
That view is backed by the recent cup record at home. Venezia won their last home Coppa Italia tie 4-0 against Mantova, while their most recent defeat in the competition was a 5-1 loss to Inter Milan at San Siro.
Modena's cup record
Modena's case is thinner. They have never lifted the Coppa Italia and have gone out in the opening round in each of their past two attempts, including a defeat to Torino and a penalty elimination by Napoli.
They did win 2-0 at Stadio Penzo in February, which is the one result Venezia cannot ignore. Even so, that was a rare home defeat for the hosts, and it does not change the basic balance of this tie: Venezia have the deeper squad, the stronger recent cup home record and the more expensive new signing leading the line.
Giovanni Stroppa's team will still see a path if Venezia start slowly, but this is the kind of opening-round test where the home side should be expected to control the game. The match, Venezia vs Modena, is the first competitive check on a rebuild that already looks more ambitious than last year.
Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
