Serie B 22/23: road to Venezia - Brescia

Venezia return to Stadio pier Luigi Penzo after two consecutive away fixtures to face Brescia on Giornata 29 of the 2022/23 Serie B season. The match against the rondinelle, in 19th place in the overall standings, will be a direct clash of great importance on the journey towards safety.

Previous encounters

Brescia have not lost in four matches against Venezia in Serie B (2W, 2D): the Lagunari's last victory against the Rondinelle in the league dates back to 24 November 2018 (2-1 under Walter Zenga). The last meeting, on 22 October 2022 in the first leg of the season, ended 1-1 with Ndoj's goal and a comeback, in the 87th minute, by Domen Črnigoj.

Brescia won their last away match against Venezia in Serie B (1-0 in March 2021) and could secure two consecutive away victories against the Veneti for the second time in the competition after having done so in 1957.

Stats and trivia

While Venezia, along with Genoa and Parma, is the team that has scored with players of the most different nationalities (eight), Brescia is the team that has conceded goals from players of the most different countries (14).

95% of the goals scored by Brescia in this league have been from inside the penalty box (21 out of 22), the highest percentage in Serie B 2022/23.

Brescia have not won in 10 Serie B away matches (4D, 6L) and have not scored in their five most recent away matches: the Lombardi have not recorded a longer streak away from home without a goal to their credit since March 1989 (seven).

VenEZIA, on the other hand, have lost just one of their last seven home games in Serie B (3W, 3D), having never won in their first seven home games in this championship (1D, 6L).

Coaches and formations

Paolo Vanoli and Daniele Gastaldello have never met in their coaching careers: Vanoli is making his league debut this season, while Gastaldello can claim two very brief previous experiences in 2021, as Brescia's interim coach.

The coach from Padua has been on the Rondinelle bench since 20 February 2023 and has picked up two draws in three matches, breaking a losing streak of seven consecutive defeats.

In the last three matches, coach Gastaldello has adopted the 4-3-2-1, with Ayé as the leading forward. In contrast, coach Vanoli, who has now mastered the 3-5-2, has recently experimented with a slight variation, leaving Joel Pohjanpalo as the only forward, and using Denis Cheryshev as a trequartista.

Scorers

Of the five goals scored by Florian Ayé, the Rondinelle's top scorer in this Serie B championship, only one has come away from Stadio Mario Rigamonti (against Modena in the 3-1 win on 10 September 2022).

Joel Pohjanpalo is the striker who has dished out the most winning assists in this Serie B championship (six); overall only Walid Cheddira (with 15 goals and five assists) and Matteo Brunori (with 13 goals and three assists) have been actively involved in more goals than the Finn (nine goals and six assists).

Among the players in this league, only Matteo Brunori (53%) participated in more of his team's goals than Joel Pohjanpalo (52%, nine goals, six assists on Venezia's 29 goals).