Although Monza and Venezia are separated by four places in the Serie A table, the hosts are in higher spirits heading into Sunday's gameweek nine match at U-Power Stadium.
Monday's 3-0 success at Hellas Verona secured the Brianzoli's first win of 2024-25, and they aim to inflict the promoted club's fourth loss on the trot to keep them bottom of the standings.
Match preview
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Alessandro Nesta finally caught a break with Monday's 3-0 win at Verona to secure a first Serie A success since replacing Raffaele Palladino in the summer, as a Dany Mota brace and Alessandro Bianco strike ended the team's winless league start.
While the former defender could not mastermind a Biancorossi victory in rounds one to seven, Monza's performances and results suggested they were due some good fortune.
The Lombardy outfit played out a 2-2 draw with two-time Conference League runners-up Fiorentina, held defending champions Inter Milan to a 1-1 draw, lost 2-1 to a late concession against Champions League side Bologna and played out a 1-1 tie with Roma in the opening weekends.
Their battling qualities stood them in good stead, and they now enter Sunday's fixture on a two-match undefeated sequence, having notched four points in that period.
Given Venezia's struggles, 16th-placed Monza are favourites to claim maximum points, even if they face the pressure of being clear favourites based on both sides' early-season form.
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The promoted opponents have not fared well on their return to the big time after two years away, underscored by six defeats in eight.
Eusebio Di Francesco has notched one league triumph since stepping in after Paolo Vanoli departed for Torino in the summer, a 2-0 victory over 18th-placed Genoa in September.
The Venice-based club's struggles to find the back of the net continue to undermine their start to the 24-25 campaign, with their five goals in eight inferior to all but one side — second-bottom Lecce (three) — heading into Sunday.
Venezia have fired blanks in 50% of their eight matches entering this weekend's visit to Monza, losing to old boss Vanoli's Torino (1-0), AC Milan (4-0) and recently Atalanta (2-0), although they managed to draw at Fiorentina in late August (0-0).
That highlights where the cellar-dwelling club's issues are before gameweek nine, as they hope to end a three-match losing streak against an opponent in fine spirits.
Team News
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Fresh off scoring his first Serie A brace, Mota hopes to add to his four league strikes as he seeks to score for the third game in a row.
Samuele Birindelli, Andrea Petagna (illness) and Alessio Cragno (shoulder) will be checked before Sunday, while Daniel Maldini and Stefano Sensi are reported to be absent until the start of November.
Also missing for Monza is Papu Gomez, who continues to serve a two-year drug ban.
Bjarki Bjarkason has not played for Venezia since pre-season due to a thigh injury, but the Iceland international is reportedly nearing a return to Di Francesco's squad.
Joel Pohjanpalo has netted two of the Venice outfit's five goals, and the forward aims to add to that tally in Sunday's visit to Monza.
Monza possible starting lineup:
Turati; Izzo, Mari, Carboni; Pereira, Pessina, Bondo, Kyriakopoulos; Mota, Caprari; Duric
Venezia possible starting lineup:
Stankovic; Candela, Svoboda, Idzes; Sagrado, Duncan, Caviglia, Zampano; Oristanio, Ellertsson; Pohjanpalo
We say: Monza 2-0 Venezia
While Monza will be wary of underrating their struggling opponents, Nesta's men should continue their recent fine form at Venezia's expense.
Although the hosts have not scored more than one goal in any game at U-Power Stadium this term, three of those four matches were against Inter, Bologna and Roma, and they aim to get more joy against the league's bottom club.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
