- Venezia have won three of their last five matches (D1, L1).
- Lecce have won three of their last five (D1, L1).
- Lecce have not lost away in any competition (W3, D1) while Venezia have a perfect five-match winning record at home.
An exciting start to the 2026-2027 Serie A season
Two of Serie A's better sides in 2026-2027 - Lecce and Venezia - meet at the Stadio Pierluigi Penzo in Italy on Sunday in a season opener that has all the ingredients to be a real thriller. There is little between these sides in the recent head-to-head record with Lecce having one win and one draw in the last two meetings, while they drew 1-1 in Serie A 2024/2025. Venezia are favourites at 2.32 in the outright market ahead of Lecce at 3.1 and the draw at 3.15, so the market does not like the home side enough to back them without conditions. There is nothing to suggest that they won't get the job done in this fixture, though, as Giovanni Stroppa's men have won seven of their last ten in all competitions (D2, L1). Lecce are in equally good form since 26 June 2025, when Eusebio Di Francesco was named as manager (W5, D3, L2), but there is no getting away from the fact that Venezia have been in far more rampant form with seven wins in their last ten.
Goals at both ends could be the play
Venezia have shown strong recent form, but they have still produced some encouraging results such as a 2-2 draw away at Stade Brestois 29 in a Friendly Club Match and a 3-2 home win over Modena in Coppa Italia, so they can certainly take the match to the giallorossi. Indeed, Stroppa has been in charge since 1 July 2025 and his wing-back-heavy 3-5-2/3-4-1-2 system suits his side well as they can press, press and counter. Di Francesco, meanwhile, is also a pressing coach, but his 4-3-3 system has an extra number in central areas and he has more width to play with. Venezia have averaged 3.80 goals per home game in all competitions this season with 19 scored in total, so the arancioneroverdi have been flying in Venice. Lecce are not far off, averaging 1.50 scored and 0.75 conceded per game on the road, so we're going for both teams to score at 1.9 rather than Venezia to run away with it. Lecce's Nikola Stulic has been in fine form with two goals in his last five appearances for the club.
