Brest vs Venezia preview, team news, prediction and H2H: Akor Adams gears up for Serie A campaign

Brest host Venezia at Stade Francis-Le Blé on Saturday in a pre-season friendly that doubles as a final rehearsal for both clubs before their opening fixtures in their respective leagues later this month, Afrik-Foot reports.

For Nigerian football followers, the fixture carries a storyline for Akor Adams after the Super Eagles forward joined Venezia from Sevilla this summer in a club-record move.

Match Preview: Brest vs. Venezia

Brest finished 12th in Ligue 1 last season, picking up 39 points from a record of 10 wins, nine draws and 15 defeats.

A goal difference of -12 told the story of a side that could score, with 43 goals scored, but also conceded as freely at the back, taking 55 in.

Pre-season has been a mixed bag for the Bretons, who drew 2-2 with National side Concarneau, lost 2-0 to Qatari club Al-Wakrah, followed by a 3-3 draw with Guingamp.

One more friendly, away at Nottingham Forest, follows before Brest open the new Ligue 1 season at Le Mans on August 22.

Venezia, by contrast, arrive full of confidence after winning the Serie B title last term, finishing top with 82 points. Andrea Adorante was the club’s top scorer in that promotion push with 17 league goals, and the Italian striker remains at the club.

This will be Venezia’s third stint in Serie A in six seasons, after their previous two returns in 2021-22 and 2024-25 both ended in immediate relegation.

That history explains a summer outlay of around €31m on 11 new players, a huge figure for a newly promoted club and a clear signal that survival alone is not the target this time.

Their preparation has produced plenty of goals, starting with a 4-2 win over Dolomiti Bellunesi, an 8-0 rout of Vis Pesaro, a 3-0 win over Galatasaray in Austria and a 4-3 defeat to Saint-Étienne in which Adams scored on his debut.

Venezia begin the Serie A season away at Lecce, giving this match and the following week’s Coppa Italia tie against Modena real value as a final prep game.

Head-to-head: Brest vs Venezia

Brest and Venezia have no recorded history against each other, competitive or otherwise, which makes Saturday their first meeting.

Team news: Akor Adams pushes for a first Venezia start

Brest

Brest have no fresh injury concerns heading into the match, giving new head coach Julien Lachuer a full squad to rotate.

Del Castillo has been the standout performer in pre-season so far, scoring against Stade Briochin after a 2025-26 league campaign in which he contributed nine goals from the right flank.

Ludovic Ajorque, who scored eight league goals last term, is expected to lead the line again, with Pathé Mboup a likely partner up front.

Venezia

Left-back Marin Sverko is the one confirmed absentee for Venezia, ruled out for three to four months after undergoing hip surgery before the club’s pre-season training camp began.

Adams made his Venezia debut as a second-half substitute against Saint-Étienne. Head coach Giovanni Stroppa started John Yeboah and Albion Rrahmani as his front two in that game, but Adams’ impact from the bench, and a further week of fitness work, gives him a real chance of a first start here.

Yeboah was central to Venezia’s promotion, finishing last season with 10 goals and nine assists, so a rotation between him, Adams, Rrahmani and Adorante up front looks likely across the rest of pre-season.

Predicted lineups: Brest vs Venezia

Predicted lineups are based on each side’s most recent pre-season selections. Heavy rotation is likely, with Rrahmani and Adorante both strong candidates to feature for Venezia.

Star player watch: Akor Adams vs Romain Del Castillo

Akor Adams arrived in Venice as the most expensive signing in the club’s history, with a transfer fee that could rise to €23m euros.

He already has a Venezia goal to his name against Saint-Étienne, and a strong showing here would put real pressure on Stroppa to hand him a starting berth for the Lecce opener.

Del Castillo is Brest’s most reliable source of goals from open play and has the potential to hurt the Italian club.

The managers: Julien Lachuer vs Giovanni Stroppa

Lachuer takes charge of his first pre-season as Brest’s permanent head coach, having been promoted from within after the club’s long-serving previous boss, Éric Roy, passed away in June following an illness.

A former Brest goalkeeper who returned to the club as a coach in 2010, Lachuer had already stood in as caretaker once before, in 2022, and was Roy’s choice to continue the project.

At 49, and only recently qualified with the licence required to coach in Ligue 1, this is his first senior head coaching role, and early results, one win in four pre-season games, suggest a settling-in period is under way.

Stroppa arrives with a very different profile, having engineered top-flight promotion with four different clubs across his career, at Foggia, Crotone, Monza and now Venezia.

He also led Cremonese back to Serie A in 2025 before switching to Venezia, and this summer’s transfer business suggests the club’s hierarchy trust him to build something more lasting than a one-season stay in Italy’s top flight.

Tactical preview: Brest vs Venezia

Brest generally used a back four under both Roy and now Lachuer, switching between a 4-4-2 and a 4-3-3 depending on players available, with Del Castillo the constant threat from the right side.

Venezia’s 3-5-2 under Stroppa is built around wing-backs who push high and wide, a shape that regularly overloads the flanks against opponents holding a flat back four.

That means Bourgault and Zogbé at full-back could find themselves outnumbered by Venezia’s wing-back and central midfield rotations, particularly if Sagrado gets to the byline early.

Brest’s route to goals is more direct, built on quick service into Ajorque’s physical presence and Del Castillo cutting inside from wide, a method that should trouble Venezia’s back three.

Brest vs Venezia prediction and betting tips

Odds for a low-profile pre-season friendly like this one are thin and can move quickly, so the prices below are indicative rather than fixed.

Brest vs Venezia final score prediction