Crystal Palace plays host to Southampton in their inaugural fixtures of the new Premier League season at Selhurst Park, with both sides no doubt keen to start the season in a victorious fashion.
But, kicking off the season in winning ways is something the Saints have struggled with in recent years as they have the worst points-per-game ratio for the opening weekends out of all the top-flight clubs.
The Eagles haven't faired much better only winning three out of their opening fixtures during their time in the Premier League.
Crystal Palace survived relegation last season by nine points but, failed to win any of there last eight games of the season - losing seven. Their opponents, however, finished the campaign on a high with a seven-game unbeaten streak including a win against Manchester City, to seal an eleventh placed finish.
Team news
Fresh from pre-season Crystal Palace have a rooster of players expected to be sidelined for this first fixture.
Centre-backs James Tomkins, Mamadou Sakho, and Gary Cahill remain sidelined with thigh injuries and all with unknown return dates. Fullback Patrick van Aanholt is recovering from dislocating his shoulder, while Christian Benteke is out due to foot injury in relation to a cracked bone.
Unfortunately, it doesn't get much better with new signings with young fullback Nathan Ferguson, who signed from West Brom on a free transfer, is out due to a knee injury.
While Ebere Eze is currently being assessed due to fitness concerns following an incident in a pre-season game where he felt his groin although it is said to not be serious. - fans will no doubt be itching to see the tricky, playmaker in action.
Ralph Hasenhuttl on the other hand has a very different scenario as he faces no reported injuries or fitness concerns from his side going into this match.
New signing Mohammed Salisu could very much feature in this game following his move from La Liga outfit Real Valladolid. Danny Ings and James Ward-Prowse are both returning from international duty without any problems, much to the delight of their club.
New signing Mohammed Salisu could make his Saints debut. Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce.
Predicted Lineups
Crystal Palace (possible 4-4-2) - Guaita, Ward, Dann, Riedewald, Mitchell, Townsend, McCarthy, McArthur, Schlupp, Ayew, Zaha
Southampton (possible 4-4-2) - McCarthy, Walker-Peters, Stephens, Salisu, Bertrand, Armstrong, Ward-Prowse, Romeu, Redmond, Adams, Ings
Form guide
As it's the first game of the season, it seems odd to even be discussing form but with the season prior ending only a month it holds some relevance. Palace ended their season with 8 winless games, losing seven of those.
Southampton, as mentioned, fared a lot better with seven games unbeaten before the season concluded, accumulating four wins in that time.
Away from home Ralph Hasenhuttt's side in their last five won two and drew the remaining three, whereas Palace in their last five at home in the league lost three, drew one, and won one.
Ones to watch
The obvious one to watch for Palace is clearly Wilfred Zaha who has shown in recent years how lethal he can be despite dropping off, by his standards, last season with only four goals.
Creativity is where Palace clearly stutter but that that could all change with the acquisition of Eze from QPR, and should he feature, even from the bench, will be a real threat to Southampton if his Championship performances are anything to go by.
In Southampton's squad, there's only one man Palace should do everything they can to isolate - Danny Ings. The English talisman finished joint second in the golden boot race and carried Southampton up the table with his 22 goals in the league last season.
His strike partner Che Adams will be another that the Eagles will be looking out for with his form drastically picking up towards the end of last season and showing glimpses of why he made the big-money move from Birmingham last summer, such as that spectacular goal against Manchester City.
Previous meetings
In the recent times that these two sides have faced each other Southampton have won two to Palace's solitary win in that time, along with two 1-1 stalemates.
The most recent of those games coming in January in a 2-0 win at Selhurst Park for the South Coast side in which Nathan Redmond scored in the first half before becoming the provider in the second half for Stuart Armstrong.
Southampton have triumphed over Crystal Palace in their last three meetings in South London, with the Saints winning 13 of their 22 outings against Roy Hodgson's side.
Where to watch
The game kicks off at 3 pm on Saturday and is now available on BT Sport, with all the Premier League games for this month now being featured on TV due to the current restrictions on football crowds.