Opta Focus – Stats and facts ahead of Napoli v Venezia
After beating Genoa away from home last time out Napoli will face a Venezia side buoyed by their current run of three consecutive positive results, especially their relegation battle triumph over Cagliari, which has really lifted Eusebio Di Francesco’s men. The head-to-head record stands firmly in Napoli’s favour, who have remained unbeaten in all of the last eight Serie A fixtures (5W, 3D) between the two sides, keeping a clean sheet in all of the most recent five. The last time the Venetians beat the Neapolitans in the Italian top flight was way back on 8 March 1942 (4-1). If Venezia were to avoid defeat on Sunday it would be the first time they have gone unbeaten in four games in Serie A since April 2000, when Francesco Oddo was at the helm. This provides even greater motivation for Joel Pohjanpalo and his team-mates to give their all against Antonio Conte’s side.
Venezia’s defenders a threat in attack
So far this season Venezia have shone in various situations while coming up short in others. This is evidenced by the fact that the team have dropped 18 possible points after failing to hold onto leads or draws. Venezia also find it tough on the road in Serie A – 12 February 2022 was the last time they won away, beating Torino 2-1. Di Francesco's team have had issues with set pieces, conceding 13 goals from dead ball scenarios, including seven from corners. However, they are more than adept at the other end of the pitch in this regard, finding the net ten times, which is more than Fiorentina (12), Inter, Atalanta and Lazio (11 each). Another noteworthy statistic is the fact that four different Venezia defenders have scored so far in Serie A 2024/25 - Francesco Zampano, Marin Sverko, Jay Idzes and Michael Svoboda. In fact, both Zampano and Sverko were among the goals in the same game last time out, when Venezia beat Cagliari 2-1 at home. Only Inter (six) and Udinese (five) have seen more of their defenders get on the scoresheet so far this campaign.
Starlet Oristanio and dangerman Caviglia
Venezia’s two standout performers so far this season hail from Italy. Gaetano Oristanio is establishing himself as one of the most compelling domestic prospects - in addition to being the youngest Italian among those who have been involved in at least five goals in this Serie A season (two goals and three assists), the Inter academy graduate is also second in Serie A 2024/25 for the number of dribbles attempted (68) and shares the record for chances created following dribbles with Ademola Lookman (five each). However, the fulcrum of the team is former Juventus player Hans Nicolussi Caviglia, who’s already scored three goals and provided two assists this season. The last Venezia midfielder to score more goals in a single Serie A campaign was Fabian Natale Valtolina, back in 1999/2000 (four). What’s more, out of all Italian midfielders in the division only Mattia Zaccagni (seven) has been involved in more goals so far in 2024/25, and if we were to include all nationalities the only other two players in the role who have contributed to more goals than Venezia’s number 14 are AC Milan's Christian Pulisic (nine) and Tijjani Reijnders (six). Joel Pohjanpalo has already scored four goals and, among the players in their maiden Serie A campaigns, only Artem Dovbyk and Casper Tengstedt (five each) have recorded more.
