Cardiff City will begin life back in English League One with a home game against Peterborough United on Saturday lunchtime.
The Bluebirds’ six-year stay in the English Championship came to an end last season with a bit of a whimper.
Relegation to the third tier prompted the Cardiff hierarchy to part company with manager Omer Riza towards the tail end of last season, with Brian Barry-Murphy now the new man in charge in the Welsh capital.
Among the bookies favourites for the title, Cardiff will be desperate to hit the ground running when they play host to Peterborough United.
The Posh failed to reach the heights of previous campaigns when placing 18th in the League One standings last season.
Manager Darren Fergusson has been busy reshaping his squad over the summer, most notably bringing in winger Declan Frith from Swiss Super League outfit FC Thun.
How the bookies view it: Bluebirds to get off to a flyer
The bookies expect Cardiff to get up and running on Saturday afternoon, with a home win priced up at 1/2 on Boylesports.
Peterborough are as big as 4/1 on Boylesports to claim top honours at the Cardiff City Stadium while a share of the spoils is also deemed unlikely at 16/5 with the same oddsmaker.
Head to head: History against the hosts
The two teams last crossed paths in the English Championship back in season 2021-22. In terms of the head-to-head record, Peterborough have seven wins to Cardiff’s four while the other four encounters have ended all square.
Players to watch: Count on Cal?
After scoring 12 goals across his 24 appearances for Cardiff in the English Championship last season, Callum Robinson should make plenty of hay in English League One this term. The Republic of Ireland international holds plenty of appeal to strike here at 6/5 with Boylesports, while the brace also looks worthy of longshot material at 7/1 with the same firm.
The aforementioned Declan Frith looks overpriced at 9/2 on Bet 365 to mark his Peterborough debut with a goal at the Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday.
Predicted line-ups
At the time of writing, Cardiff are carrying a clean bill of health for their curtain-raiser with Peterborough on Saturday lunchtime.
As for the visitors, they also have no reported injury or suspension issues to contend with ahead of their trip to the Welsh capital this weekend.
Cardiff: Horvath; Kpakio, Fish, Chambers, O'Dowda; Turnbull, Ralls, Ashford, Robertson, Alves; Robinson
Peterborough : Blackmore ; Johnston, Katongo, Nevett, Mills; Edun, O'Brien-Brady, De Havilland, Odoh; Firth, Lindgren
Anything else catch the eye?
Peterborough have long had a reputation for being one of the EFL's great entertainers, so a goal-heavy game could be on the cards in the Welsh capital.
With BTTS and Over 2.5 Goals both too short to support as single sections, combine the two bets for an eye-catching even-money (1/1) shot on Boylesports.
This formula would have been a winning one in no fewer than 15 of Peterborough’s 23 league games away from home last season.
GambleAware