Southampton kick-start the Championship this Friday as they head to Sheffield to face Wednesday.
Sheffield Wednesday are the side who get to welcome the Saints to EFL action following relegation.
Southampton face a long journey up to South Yorkshire to face fellow Championship new-boys Wednesday who have just been promoted from League One.
It marks the competitive beginning of Russell Martin’s Southampton tenure following a solid preseason.
It also marks the first game below the Premier League for Southampton since 2012, while their opponents return after a two year hiatus
The big question marks going into the game will come in the form of will the rumoured departures start or will they be excluded.
Southampton predicted XI
Like all of the relegated sides, Southampton will likely have a team completely different to the one they played their final Premier League game with.
Due to multiple outgoings and also signings and returning loan stars, the Saints have options.
In goalkeeper however it will be Gavin Bazunu, the Irish international was hugely impressive despite Southampton being extremely poor defensively.
The defence will see a shakeup, as Ryan Manning the newly signed full-back starts following his arrival after leaving Swansea, while Kyle Walker-Peters will play at right-back.
In central defence we see Shea Charles getting his first competitive start next to Jack Stephens due to the Saints losing multiple centre-backs already this window.
In midfield is where it gets contentious, with both £50m valued Romeo Lavia and James Ward-Prowse linked with big money moves.
We think they both start, given Martin said he would use players if they’re still there.
In front of these two we see Samuel Edozie, Carlos Alcaraz and the returning Nathan Tella across a flat three.
Then up top, Adam Armstrong is a must with his elite Championship goalscoring experience likely to come in handy.
Southampton predicted XI: Bazunu; Manning, Charles, Stephens, Walker-Peters; Ward-Prowse, Lavia; Edozie, Alcaraz, Tella; Armstrong