
Sheffield Wednesday vs. Southampton Betting Tips: Best bets for Championship opener

The wait is over and the new Championship season begins on Friday 4th August with Sheffield Wednesday vs Southampton kicking off gameweek 1. Fresh off his summer break Jimmy The Punt returns with a preview for the game and his best bets.
The football league back baby.
It was a hectic football schedule last season but after footballess summer, anticipation ahead of the new campaign has rarely been higher. And what a fascinating fixture it is to raise the curtain.
Sheffield Wednesday host Southampton, two historic clubs, looking to reacquaint themselves with the division. The last time they met domestically was in the 2010/11 season down in the third tier where the Saints completed the double on route to promotion. The Owls squad featured the likes of Jermaine Johnson and Clinton Morrison and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Adam Lallana were cutting their teeth on the south coast.
Southampton followed that promotion with another and after 11 seasons in the Premier League returned to the second tier and, as it stands, look pretty well equipped to challenge for an instant return.
The bookies have them at 5/2 (28.6%) for promotion and having kept the majority of their squad together they have every chance. Speculation continues to fester about the future of Romeo Lavia and James Ward-Prowse at the club. Liverpool look intent on securing the services of the former and David Moyes is eyeing up the latter as Declan Rice’s replacement at West Ham.
In Russel Martin they have appointed a manager that will play the right way but won’t necessarily get results. Compared to Wednesday, the visitors are undoubtedly in a better state to start the season this Friday though.
Sheffield Wednesday vs Southampton Tips
The Owls chairman, Dejphon Chansiri, has spent the summer kiboshing any momentum his club could have gained from their promotion campaign. After parting ways with Darren Moore, he released a written statement on the clubs website clearing up the situation, then, he spent the press conference unveiling Xisco Muñoz snipping at Carlton Morris.
The fact that this is the 11th different man to be in the Hillsborough dug out as Chanseri begins his 9th season running the club depicts the turmoil behind the scenes pretty well.
On the pitch, the squad simply does not look good enough for the Championship. They were far from a one man team in League One but their major edge, Barry Bannan, will be diluted by the quality of this division.
Although it is the first game of the season, and there's a lot of uncertainty, siding with Southampton draw no bet seems a good approach.
The longer the transfer saga between Southampton, James Ward-Prowse and West Ham rumbles on, the more likely it looks that he will be staying put.
The Saints have knocked back a few Hammers bids, valuing their set piece specialist at £40m, a price the east Londoners are not prepared to match.
The England international has scored 49 top flight goals and averaged 0.24 goals per 90 last season, based on the latter alone, the 7/2 represents value. The drop down in quality only aids the selection.
It is also worth considering, the Owls committed the third most fouls in the division last season (11.8 pG).
Best of luck if you are backing any of these selections and please remember to gamble responsibly.

Subscribe now for the latest previews, exclusive tips supported by stats, and top offers sent directly to your inbox.