Serie A line-ups: Venezia vs. Roma

9 Feb 2025

Football Italia

Roma make changes for this tricky Serie A trip to Venezia and give Victor Nelsson his first start, while Daniel Fila and Kike Perez get their full debuts.

UDINE, ITALY - JANUARY 26: Artem Dovbyk of AS Roma celebrates after scoring his team second goal during the Serie A match between Udinese and AS Roma at Stadio Friuli on January 26, 2025 in Udine, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

Roma make changes for this tricky Serie A trip to Venezia and give Lucas Gourna-Douath his first start, while Daniel Fila and Kike Perez get their full debuts.

It kicks off at the Stadio Penzo at 11.30 GMT.

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from today’s five Serie A games on the Liveblog.

The Giallorossi are coming off a midweek 3-1 Coppa Italia quarter-final defeat to Milan at San Siro, so with the decisive Europa League play-off against FC Porto coming up on Thursday, coach Claudio Ranieri has to rotate his squad.

Manu Koné is suspended, while Mats Hummels and Leandro Paredes did not even make the trip to ensure they rest fully.

Paulo Dybala starts, despite reports that he would drop to the bench, and Artem Dovbyk returns to the starting XI with support from Stephan El Shaarawy.

BOLOGNA, ITALY – NOVEMBER 30: Eusebio Di Francesco, Head Coach of Venezia, looks on prior to the Serie A match between Bologna and Venezia at Stadio Renato Dall’Ara on November 30, 2024 in Bologna, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

Venezia have also been very busy in the transfer window, above all selling star striker and fan favourite Joel Pohjanpalo to Palermo.

Filip Stankovic and Michael Svoboda are long-term absentees with knee ligament injuries, along with Marin Sverko and Alfred Duncan.

Their form has slightly improved lately, as although they are without a win since December 22, there were draws against Empoli, Parma and Verona, plus only very narrow defeats to Napoli, Inter and Udinese.

Czech Under-21 international Daniel Fila was signed late on deadline day from Slavia Prague and he is thrown straight into the starting XI, while Spanish midfielder Kike Perez gets his full debut.

This will always be a special game for Eusebio Di Francesco, who was both a player and a coach at Roma.