Newport County will kick-off their 2021/22 Sky Bet League Two campaign with a trip to Lancashire, as the Exiles face Keith Curle's Oldham Athletic.
Michael Flynn will be desperate to put last season's play-off final woe behind himself and behind the club, after Newport suffered late defeat to Morecambe to miss out on promotion at the final hurdle.
Curle and Oldham will likely have different ambitions for the season, with signings few and far between and the relationship between the board and the fans still crooked following the questionable leadership under Abdallah Lemsagam.
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Team news
The Latics head into the campaign with seven new faces, with the majority likely to be involved following the departure of ten players, including key players such as Conor McAleny and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson.
Curle will likely feature two new full-backs in his starting eleven, following the arrivals of Jordan Clarke and Sam Hart, whilst former Huddersfield Town and Blackburn Rovers shot stopper Jayson Leutwiler is almost guaranteed a start following Laurie Walker's loan termination.
Oldham's counterparts Newport have gone through quite the rebuild through the Summer, with 12 new signings and 13 departures from Rodney Parade.
This includes the likes of Finn Azaz, who recently gained promotion with Cheltenham Town, Jermaine Hylton and Courtney Senior, who will both be frightening threats on both wings.
Christopher Missilou may play for Newport against his former employers Oldham.
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Predicted lineups
Oldham Athletic: Leutwiler; Clarke, Piergianni, Diarra, Hart, Adams, Whelan, Bahamboula, Dearnley, Keillor-Dunn, Hope.
Newport County: Day; Lewis, Clarke, Dolan, Demetriou, Haynes, Upson, Azaz, Senior, Hylton, Amond.
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Ones to watch
A Congolese international (having made one appearance in 2017), Bahamboula is one of the most physically, and technically gifted players in Sky Bet League Two.
Despite standing at 6"1, Bahamboula is tremendously agile, showing last season that he boasts a number of different skills and terrorising the opposition defence constantly. In his first season with the Latics, Bahamboula managed six goals in 35 apperances.
Bahamboula impressed so much last campaign that he spent pre-season on trial with Neil Warnock's Championship outfit Middlesborough, but no deal materialised and the winger will continue his career with Oldham for the time being.
One player whom Flynn will be delighted to have kept a held of over the Summer will be his defensive unit Matthew Dolan.
Dolan just had the best season of his career so far, with the defender evidently entering the prime of his career and showing so last season, being an integral part of the Newport side who reached the play-off final.
Starring in Flynn's preferred five at the back formation, Dolan used his skills which he previously gained as a central midfielder to play out of the back and help begin attacks for the Exiles, but he even managed seven goals and three assists, despite playing in defence, including a world-class free-kick against Bradford City.
Along with this, Dolan has also just been appointed as the club's new captain ahead of the new season.
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The officiating
Referee: Tom Nield
Assistant referee: Declan Ford
Assistant referee: Daniel Woodward
Fourth official: Lee Freeman
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Previous meeting
Seen as both of these sides have been in the same division for the past three seasons, there has been six meetings between Oldham and Newport in the last three years.
In fact, Newport haven't managed to defeat Oldham in their previous four meetings, with the Latics beating them on every occasion. This includes last season, as a dramatic game ended 3-2, with goals from Davis Keillor-Dunn, Bobby Grant and an own goal from Mickey Demetriou overcoming Jake Scrimshaw and Luke Gambin's goals.
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How to watch
The game will not be available to stream via iFollow this season for those in the UK, with Saturday fixtures kicking off at 15:00 BST no longer permitted. Tickets are still available for home and away fans.