Leo Scienza was one of the best players in the Championship last season and Southampton have done well to keep him amid interest from the Premier League and other top leagues across Europe.

Scienza ended the 25/26 season with 17 goal contributions in the Championship, exceeding his combined xG + xA of 13.1. Seven of Scienza’s goal contributions were goals, coming from 84 shots in total (3.13 per 90), seeing 37 of these efforts find the target (1.38 per 90). 

Scienza’s shot volume is particularly promising when looking to back him for an effort on target here, he managed four shots in Southampton’s win over Colchester in the EFL Cup last time out - highlighting again just how often he takes aim.

Caspar Jander is another player in this Southampton side that probably has the quality to play in the Premier League and gets through quite a lot of work in the middle of the park for the Saints.

He committed 45 fouls across his 32 starts in the Championship last season (1.48 per 90), also averaging 6.25 defensive contributions per 90 as well as 3.32 tackles per 90. These metrics show just how much work Jander gets through in the middle of the park. 

Jander committed a foul in the most recent head to head meeting between the sides, with Southampton committing 10 fouls in that game - a tally consistent with their foul average in the Championship last season (10.5 per game).

The meeting between these two at Vicarage Road last season produced four goals as the sides played out a 2-2 draw.

Southampton’s games towards the end of last season were really entertaining, seeing 3+ goals in each of their last nine games of the campaign across all competitions.

Southampton are one of the few sides in the Championship that have a degree of continuity from last season having kept Tonda Eckert and a lot of their key players, so I expect this trend to continue here.

Watford saw 57 goals across their 23 home games last season (2.47 per game), and notably saw 3+ goals in two of their friendly matches ahead of the new season. 

Only Sheffield United (304) and Middlesbrough (333) won more corners in the Championship than Southampton (276) in the Championship last season.

Tonda Eckert’s side averaged 5.75 corners per game in the second division, and usually end up with a healthy corner count as a result of their overall dominance - which is present over most sides in the division.

Watford conceded 5.17 corners per game in the Championship last season. Southampton recorded exactly five corners when they visited Vicarage Road last term and I’d expect them to come away with a similar corner count this time around.

Southampton came flying out of the blocks this season, kicking off with a composed 2‑0 victory over Colchester in the EFL Cup, which only added to the confidence gained from three straight preseason wins.

Tonda Eckert’s side held their own against Watford in both league meetings last season, including a hard earned point away at Vicarage Road. Across their away fixtures last year, the Saints came away unbeaten in 69 percent of those trips.

Watford, by contrast, looked patchy throughout preseason and needed a stoppage time winner deep into the 99th minute just to squeeze past Crawley in their own first round cup tie. With that uncertainty hanging over the hosts, Southampton have every chance of leaving with at least a draw.

Southampton started the season strongly with a 2-0 win over Colchester in the EFL Cup, building on the three wins they managed from three games in pre-season.

Tonda Eckert’s side avoided defeat in both head to head meetings with Watford last season, earning a point at Vicarage Road. Southampton avoided defeat in 69% of their away matches last year.

Watford have been inconsistent in pre-season and required a 99th minute winner to get past Crawley in their EFL Cup first round tie, Saints should be able to avoid defeat. 

Feyenoord won their opening game of the season to nil on the road against Sparta Rotterdam with an xG of 3.59.

Feyenoord won all five of their friendlies in the build up to the campaign, and have not lost a game since the 1st March - winning 10 of their 15 games in this period.

Feyenoord have Giovanni Van Bronckhorst at the helm who has positive experience with the club having led them to the Eredivisie title back in the 16/17 campaign.

Go Ahead Eagles fell to a 1-0 defeat when these sides met earlier this year, and only won two of their 17 away games last season.

West Ham look like the best side in the Championship and come into the season having recorded a 3-1 win over Portsmouth in the EFL Cup.

Bowen and Castellanos got on the scoresheet in that game, and that firepower is likely to serve West Ham well in a league that will struggle to match that level of attacking quality.

Burnley have lost a lot of key players over the summer and have a manager who has never been in the Championship before. They failed to win any of their friendly matches, and were held by Notts County in the EFL Cup prior to this match. 

Molde have seen 3+ goals in each of their last nine matches, stretching all the way back to the middle of May.

They take on a Tromso side who are desperately trying to keep up with Viking and Bodo Glimt as the pace setters in the Eliteserien.

Tromso have seen 3+ goals in four of their last five matches, most recently firing five goals past Cluj as part of Conference League qualifying.