Zanetti faces the club he once took up as Venezia and Udinese scrap at the bottom
Paolo Zanetti takes charge of Udinese for the first time against the Venezia side he promoted to Serie A, with both clubs in serious trouble near the foot of the table.
Venezia host Udinese at the Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo on Friday with both clubs stationed in the relegation zone, and the fixture doubles as Paolo Zanetti's first match in charge of the visitors, according to Football Italia.
Venezia sit bottom of Serie A on three points. Udinese are 19th with five, and arrive having sacked Kosta Runjaic on Monday after a 5-2 home defeat to Roma left the club without a win in eight matches, Football Italia reported.
Zanetti's history with Venezia gives the appointment an edge beyond the table. He led the club into Serie A in 2021 before later managing Hellas Verona, and now takes his first session in the opposition dugout against the side he once built. Asked about his approach at Wednesday's unveiling, he said: “With me, those who run and deserve it play.”
Zanetti returns to the club he once promoted
That line is worth pausing on, because it signals intent rather than system. Zanetti is not describing a formation change so much as a behavioural standard, and it matters given the state he has inherited: a squad eight games without a win and short on the kind of pressing intensity that usually underpins his teams.
Davide Nicola's Venezia present a contrasting recent trajectory. His first match in charge produced a win over Napoli, but four straight defeats have followed, the latest a 1-0 loss at Como last Sunday, Football Italia noted. A team that can beat a side like Napoli and then lose four in a row is not lacking quality so much as consistency, and that inconsistency is usually where a low block either holds or collapses under repeated pressure.
Two back-three systems, different aims
Both managers have set up in back-three systems, though for different reasons. Venezia line up in a 3-5-2 with Stanković in goal behind Halhal, Moreno and Juan Jesus, with Hainaut and Mazzocchi providing the width as wing-backs either side of Kike Pérez, Busio and Sohm in midfield, and Yeboah partnering Adams up front.
A 3-5-2 with two orthodox strikers is built to compete physically through the middle and rely on wing-backs for width rather than width in the final third, which suits a side fighting at the bottom and needing control of central zones more than variation of attack.
Udinese set up in a 3-4-2-1, with Okoye behind Abankwah, Palma and Solet, Vojvoda and Kamara as wide outlets, Piotrowski and Karlström forming a double pivot screening the back three, and Zaniolo and Ekkelenkamp operating in the half-spaces behind lone striker Davis. That double pivot is designed to give Udinese control in transition moments, protecting a back three that has conceded heavily in recent matches, including five against Inter and five against Roma this season, as reported by Football Italia.
Injury list forces changes to personnel
Personnel news shapes both line-ups. Thierry Correia returns to Venezia's squad after a hamstring issue, though Nicola has indicated the full-back is there chiefly to regain matchday rhythm rather than to play a significant role immediately. Andrea Adorante, Bartol Franjić and Marin Šverko remain unavailable through back, shoulder and hip problems respectively.
Udinese welcome back Oumar Solet after a calf injury, though Zanetti intends to limit his minutes carefully in this first match. Keinan Davis starts despite a late fitness concern over a muscle issue, while Vakoun Bayo is only recently back from his own hamstring layoff. David Alaba and Alessandro Zanoli are not expected to return until after the international break, and Gueye remains sidelined following ankle surgery. Neither club has a player suspended for the match.
What the results so far reveal
The broader numbers underline why this fixture carries weight. Venezia have managed just one win from their opening matches this season, that victory coming against Napoli, while losing to Como, Inter, Genoa and Atalanta in their recent run, per the figures cited by Football Italia. Udinese's away form has been similarly bleak, with heavy defeats to Roma and Milan sitting alongside a draw at Parma.
Those patterns point to two teams whose defensive structures have been repeatedly exposed in transition, whether through a back three left exposed by advancing wing-backs or a midfield screen bypassed too easily. For Zanetti, the immediate task is less about reshaping Udinese's system than restoring the discipline that keeps a back three compact when possession is lost. For Nicola, the challenge is converting a solitary statement win into the kind of consistency that keeps Venezia off the foot of the table. Both sides will return to league action next after the international break, with their positions in the bottom three still to be settled.