20:00 Friday

Neil Macdonald has recommended a 2.5 (6/4) Bet Builder for the Friday night Championship opener between Sheffield Wednesday and Southampton.

Bet Builder Tips Today | Friday 4th August 

Newly promoted Sheffield Wednesday are predicted to struggle this season due to a lack of squad reinforcements and managerial changes. Southampton, at present, have retained a lot of quality for this level and look set for a positive start to their Championship campaign

See below for my suggested Bet Builder tips for tonight’s match; opening games of the season are generally tricky to navigate but I believe we have a mismatch here with a far superior Southampton against an ageing Sheffield Wednesday.

Sheffield Wednesday vs Southampton Bet Builder Tips

My Bet Builder for Sheffield Wednesday vs Southampton can be backed 6/4 (2.5) on William Hill. The same bet is 2.35 on BetVictor.

Advised Bet Builder 

  • Southampton Over 1.5 Team Total Goals (Away Total Goals)
  • Southampton Double Chance (Win or Draw)

Leg 1: Over 1.5 Away (Southampton Goals) 

  • Newly promoted Sheff Wednesday look set to struggle this season; not only have they parted ways with Darren Moore, their squad hasn’t been strengthened enough to be competitive in this league. Most models have them set for relegation which shouldn’t come as a surprise.
  • Xisco Muñoz has been brought in to replace Moore; he had success getting Watford promoted to the Premier League in 20/21 but I worry that he doesn’t have the required tools here to have success. His teams like to play possession based football and like to press high up the pitch with a lot of aggression. Remember this squad was the oldest in League One last season with an average age of 29.5.
  • Pre-season hasn't looked promising. Sheffield Wednesday won just one of five matches, with that single victory coming against National League side, Chesterfield. Southampton also secured only one win in the pre-season, but they faced a much higher calibre of opponent.

Leg 2: Southampton Double Chance (Win or Draw) 

  • Southampton's current squad (£300m) is valued at roughly 30 times more than Sheffield Wednesday's (£11m), and their wage bill is five times that of Wednesday's. This illustrates the significant disparity in quality between the teams. As of today Salisu (CB) and Mohamed Elyounoussi (LW) are the only first-team regulars who have left so we can expect a strong XI from Russell Martin.
  • These two sides met in last season’s Carabao Cup, and although the game ended 1-1 (Southampton won on penalties) Southampton dominated the game posting 2.88xG to Wednesday’s 0.75. Southampton also fielded an almost complete B team for the match with the exception of James Ward-Prowse.
  • Sheff Wednesday also took on one other Premier League side last season, that came against a heavily rotated Newcastle in the FA Cup, they won that game 2-1 but again gave up a massive xGA of 3.95 with 21 attempts on their goal.
  • These two met in last season’s Carabao Cup with Southampton progressing. Despite fielding a B team in that game the Saints were dominant racking up close to 3.00 xG