Venezia are back in Serie A after a one-year absence, as they won the Serie B championship last season. Gli Arancioneroverdi have been here before, and their next objective is to extend their stay in the Italian top-flight for as long as possible.
As one of the newly promoted sides, Venezia are among those expected to be relegated after the 2026-27 season. The Serie A 2026 odds should give Giovanni Stroppa’s men motivation to pull off an upset and hopefully punch above their weight, à la Sunderland in the Premier League, who finished seventh in the table in their first season back.
And it seems that Venezia are determined to do just that, as they’ve been busy working the phones this summer. Gli Arancioneroverdi are arguably among the low-key productive teams this summer window.
In today’s SBOTOP feature, we’ll talk about Venezia and analyse how they might fare in 2026-27.
How did Venezia secure Serie A promotion?
Venezia didn’t have a great start to the 2025-26 campaign, winning only two games in the first nine matchdays (D3, L3). However, since their 2-1 loss to Catanzaro in early November, Gli Arancioneroverdi have only lost one match (2-0 against Modena) in their subsequent matchdays.
Heading into their second-to-the last game against Spezia, Venezia only needed a point to secure promotion, and that is what they did. John Yeboah and Richie Sagrado gave Gli Arancioneroverdi a 2-0 lead, taking advantage of Spezia’s numerical disadvantage. However, Mattia Valoti and Gabriele Artistico scored two late goals to save a point for their side.
Despite squandering a two-goal lead, Venezia led Serie B by a point over second-seeded Frosinone but crucially have an unassailable four-point edge over Monza going into the final matchday. Frosinone eventually finished second behind Venezia, while Monza defeated fifth-seeded Catanzaro in the play-offs to get the final Serie A spot.
In the Coppa Italia, Venezia eliminated Hellas Verona in the Round of 32 last September via penalties but eventually lost 5-1 to Inter Milan in December, perhaps giving them a glimpse of the kind of competition that awaits them.
Venezia, Frosinone, and Monza will replace Cremonese, Hellas Verona, and Pisa, so they’ll have their work cut out. They must secure positive Serie A 2026 results early on to build momentum and put the threat of relegation in the rearview mirror as soon as possible.
The key players for Venezia
Venezia won the Serie B championship because they boasted the second division’s best attack and backline, scoring 77 league goals while conceding only 31 for a healthy goal difference of +46.
Andrea Adorante finished second behind Palermo’s Joel Pohjanpalo (25 goals) in the Golden Boot race with 17 goals. The 26-year-old striker will hope to replicate his form in the Italian top-flight, as he’s expected to stay. He’ll receive support from fellow scorers John Yeboah, Antoine Hanaut, and Ridgeciano Haps, who combined for 20 league goals last season.
Gianluca Busio is Gli Arancioneroverdi’s man in the middle. The 24-year-old American international made 37 league appearances last term, notching seven goals and three assists, though he also had eight yellow cards. Because of his reliability, head coach Giovanni Stroppa is making him wear the captain’s armband this upcoming season.
Bartol Franjic is one of Venezia’s leaders at the back alongside Joel Schingtienne, Marin Sverko, and Ridgeciano Haps. The 26-year-old centre-back joined the team on loan (with a conditional obligation to buy) from VfL Wolfsburg in 2025.
They’ve been busier than usual this summer, as they offloaded and brought in a boatload of players. Some of their notable sales were Issa Doumbia and Michael Svoboda to Sporting and Brighton. On the other hand, their marquee signings have been Armel Bella-Kotchap, Toma Basic, Thierry Correia, and Akor Adams – one of the most underrated players in La Liga last term.
Can Venezia stay in the top-flight this time?
Since their most recent bankruptcy in 2015, Venezia have played in Serie A for the 2021-22 and 2024-25 seasons, but they went straight back down both times. In 2024-25, Gli Arancioneroverdi finished 19th in the Italian top-flight table, notching only 29 points and having the league’s second-worst offence (32 goals) and a bottom-five defence (56 goals conceded). Staying in Serie A is undoubtedly difficult, so Venezia must invest in their squad, which they have done so far. Head coach Giovanni Stroppa will likely approach the 2026-27 campaign with a chip on his shoulder. While he’s highly successful at getting teams out of Serie B, his brief stints in Serie A have mostly resulted in relegation.
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