Sheffield Wednesday v Southampton

Sheffield Wednesday vs Southampton Preview

Friday evening brings us the start of another English domestic season and features this curtain-raiser in the Championship between two clubs that experienced contrasting fortunes as Sheffield Wednesday play host to Southampton at Hillsborough.

After achieving a third-place finish at the end of the League One regular season and agonisingly close to securing automatic promotion as they ended up just two points behind second-placed Ipswich Town, Sheffield Wednesday successfully navigated the play-offs to register a 1-0 win over Yorkshire rivals, Barnsley, in the League One play-off final in extra-time.

However, The Owls will be without former manager, Darren Moore, after he failed to agree terms of a new contract and he has been replaced by former Watford boss, Xisco Munoz, whose immediate remit will be to steady the Sheffield Wednesday ship and consolidate their Championship status after a two-season hiatus in the third tier.

After sealing promotion at the end of last season, Sheffield Wednesday have played a string of pre-season friendlies which have yielded just the one win, that being a 2-1 win away at Chesterfield but The Owls lost four of their last five friendlies prior to the start of this new Championship season.

In contrast, Southampton endured a disastrous Premier League campaign last term which ultimately signalled the end of their 11-season stay in the English top flight as the south coast outfit were relegated down to the Championship after finishing bottom of the division and 11 points adrift of safety.

Former MK Dons and Swansea City manager, Russell Martin, has taken over the St Mary's hot-seat and is tasked with the mission to get Southampton back up into the Premier League at the first time of asking but this will be an extremely tough assignment, particularly as some key players have already left the club.

The likes of Elyounoussi, Diallo, Orsic and Walcott have departed to FC Copenhagen, Al-Duhail, Trabzonspor and free agent respectively, while star midfielder, James Ward-Prowse is still a Saints player but for how much longer remains to be seen.

Southampton have played five pre-season friendlies since the end of last season's debacle and they too have managed to muster just a single victory in five games which came in the form of a 4-2 win against Reading.

Sheffield Wednesday v Southampton Verdict

In competitive football, Sheffield Wednesday are unbeaten in their last 24 matches in all competitions at Hillsborough, keeping a total of 13 clean sheets, and this will give the Championship newcomers belief and confidence that they can continue to make Hillsborough a fortress in this upcoming second tier season.

Southampton's results and form away from home towards the end of last season were disappointing to say the least as The Saints failed to win any of their final seven outings on the road, so this opening trip of the season to Hillsborough will be a tough test for Martin's side.

Both teams will head into this new season under new management and this may result in a low-scoring game as The Owls and Saints acclimatise to new systems.

Therefore, our main bet will be Under 2.5 goals @ 1.80

Other side bets worth considering:

Sheffield Wednesday win @ 2.75

Correct score: Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 @ 13.00