Morecambe and Walsall will do battle against each other in their 2023-24 League Two curtain-raiser at the Mazuma Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Both teams endured largely disappointing league campaigns last time out, and they will be keen to kick off on a positive note this time around.
Match preview
Morecambe wrapped up their preparation for the new season with a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Wigan Athletic in Saturday's friendly encounter.
Derek Adams's men fell behind in the 18th minute to Thelo Aasgaard's opener before Luke Brennan put the result beyond doubt in second-half stoppage time.
That brought an end to the Shrimps' three-game unbeaten run, where they netted an impressive 14 goals and let in just three at the other end of the pitch.
Awaiting them next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who have managed to come out on top in only one of the previous five meetings between the teams.
Currently on a run of one clean sheet in five home matches leading up to this weekend, Saturday's hosts will be looking to keep things at the back en route to a positive result in front of their fans.
Walsall breezed past the threat of Solihull Moors thanks to an emphatic 3-0 triumph in the sides' warm-up fixture at The ARMCO Arena on Saturday.
Off the back of a drab first half, goals from Liam Gordon, Isaac Hutchinson and Ronan Maher saw Mat Sadler's men get the job done in style.
As a result, the Saddlers have gone unbeaten in their entire pre-season campaign and are without defeat in six straight outings across all competitions.
Having emerged victorious in their most recent two away involvements by a combined score of 7-1, Saturday's visitors will be confident of getting the job done on enemy territory once again.
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Team News
Isaac Hutchinson has found the back of the net in all but one of his last four appearances for Walsall, making him one to keep a close watch on.
Douglas James-Taylor is in line to make his competitive debut for the away side, having joined from Stoke City as a free agent earlier this summer.
After three years at Shrewsbury Town, youth prospect Tom Bloxham recently made the switch to Morecambe and will be looking to make a good impression in his early days.
Cole Stockton has not featured since the final day of last season through a knee problem which is set to keep the forward out of Saturday's clash as well.
Morecambe possible starting lineup:
Moore; Melbourne, Bedeau, Rawson, Senior; Mayor, Songo'o, Taylor, Slew; Brown, Bloxham
Walsall possible starting lineup:
Evans; Hussey, Daniels, Farquharson; Knowles, Hutchinson, Stirk, McEntee, Gordon; Matt, Johnson
We say: Morecambe 2-1 Walsall
The teams are on a decent run of results heading into this one, and both will fancy their chances of coming away with all three points. That said, we are backing the home side to just about edge their visitors come the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
