Bradford have finally managed to break the curse and get out of League Two, having spent the last six seasons in the basement of the EFL. Their third placed finish was enough to guarantee automatic progression to League One, though they only just secured this spot, with Walsall finishing one point behind the Bantams.

Bradford boasted the best home record in League Two last season, avoiding defeat in 21 of their 23 home games and scoring 39 goals in the process. They only conceded 13 goals across these games but this is a defensive record we can expect to worsen in the upcoming season when considering the increased quality of teams that Bradford will be playing.

They’ll be lining up against a Wycombe side that finished in the playoff spots last season, losing out in the semi-finals of the playoffs against Charlton who went on to secure promotion to the Championship. Notably, only Birmingham (50) picked up more points on the road in League One last season than Wycombe (42), who netted 43 goals across their 23 away games (1.86 per game) - more than any other side in the division.

This game has all the ingredients to be an exciting one to kick off the League One campaign for two sides that will be hoping to be in and amongst the battle to earn promotion to the Championship. 

Barnsley massively underachieved last season when compared to pre-season expectations, but their games were certainly entertaining. Barnsley saw 142 goals across their 46 games in League One last season (3.08 per game) and Connor Hourihane’s permanent appointment would suggest that they will continue in this exciting fashion. 

Last season, they had one of the worst home records in the division, which was the main factor in their underachievement, but these games still had plenty of goals with 69 across their 23 home games (3.0 per game). 

Plymouth will be wanting to avoid a succession of seasons at this level, but they may be forced to wait for their return to the Championship given how the level of League One has evolved over the years, making it a very difficult league to get out of.

Plymouth’s numbers aren’t as relevant as Barnsley’s from last season as they aren’t going to struggle as much as they did in the Championship, which should see a reduction in the 88 goals they conceded last season (most in the Championship), but also a slight increase in the 51 goals they scored last season - which was notably the highest total of the bottom eight sides in the Championship.

There was almost nothing between these sides last season, with the pair facing off for a potential spot in the Scottish Championship as part of the Championship Qualification process. Cove Rangers came out on top on that occasion, winning the second leg 2-1 after the first leg ended in a 0-0 draw.

Airdrieonians managed to stave off the fight from Cove Rangers in the final of the qualification process to maintain their spot in the Championship for another season, but we can expect a renewed rivalry between Cove Rangers and Queen of the South. 

These sides are very familiar with each other, they faced off on six occasions last season with BTTS landing in three of these encounters. The overall head to head split is also quite even, QOTS have won six of the 13 meetings between the sides while Cove Rangers have come out on top in five of the clashes, with the other two games ending in draws. 

Both sides will be eager to make a statement early on in the season as both eye up promotion to the Scottish Championship.

Two sides battling towards the bottom of the Veikkausliiga face off here, with the chance of escaping the relegation group that forms as the league splits off at the end of the season growing thinner with each passing week. I think goals are likely here given how poor both backlines have been of late. Both sides have seen BTTS in four of their last five matches across all competitions. 

Jaro have conceded 27 goals across their 17 games in the Veikkausliiga this season (1.58 per game), with 14 of these goals being conceded across their nine away games. They’ve lost five of these away fixtures, which is a record that should encourage Oulu to feel as though they can close the one point gap that currently exists between the two sides. 

Oulu’s defensive record is even worse than Jaro’s, with Mikko Isokangas’ side shipping 35 goals across their 17 games this term. Only bottom placed side FC KTP have conceded more goals than Oulu in the Veikkausliiga this season (40). The most recent meeting between the sides saw BTTS as Jaro ran out 2-1 winners back in June. Oulu were reduced to 10 men in the first half but still managed to score.