Watford begin life back in the Premier League at Vicarage Road and will be aiming to start with a win in front of their own fans against Aston Villa. However, the Hornets head into the new campaign as one of the favourites in the top-flight relegation odds.
Leicester will be looking to build on their Community Shield win when entertaining Wolves in the opening round of Premier League fixtures. Wanderers begin a new era with Bruno Lage at the helm after Nuno Espirito Santo left the club at the end of last season.
Burnley and Brighton occupied the two places above the relegation zone last season and will be keen to get off to a fast start when they meet at Turf Moor on the opening weekend. The Clarets only picked up two points from their first seven matches last season.
Bundesliga action is back on Sky Sports this term, starting with an intriguing contest between Borussia Monchengladbach and Bayern Munich. The visitors are hot favourites to claim a 10th straight title triumph, but have lost at Borussia-Park for the last two seasons.
Dortmund finished last season in great form and can pick up where they left off by beating Frankfurt in their Bundesliga opener. Both teams have had managerial changes and the hosts look to have adjusted better, judged on a 3-0 cup victory at Wehen-Wiesbaden.
St Johnstone showed great spirit to earn a draw with Galatasaray in Istanbul, even if it was against 10 men at a neutral venue. However, Gala hinted at times why they have qualified for Champions League group-stage football in six of the last nine seasons.
Celtic will be feeling a lot better about life after a couple of big wins in the last week and can maintain the momentum when hosting Jablonec. The Hoops hold a 4-2 advantage from the first leg of this Europa League qualifier and are hard to oppose at Parkhead.
Peterborough have made a shocking start to the new season and may be content to just steady the ship when hosting Derby in the Championship. The Rams were plagued by off-field problems over the summer but seem ready to knuckle down and fight for their survival.
Sheffield United received a wake-up call when upset by Birmingham but can kick-start their Championship campaign by winning at Swansea. The Welsh outfit looked disjointed during Russell Martin’s first league game in charge and may take time to adjust to new tactics.
Five of the last six UEFA Super Cup contests have gone to extra-time and we’re expecting another close contest between Chelsea and Villarreal. Windsor Park in Belfast will stage this pre-season showpiece and past history suggests a tight tussle is on the cards.
There is a bit of extra spice associated with Derby’s EFL Cup tie against Salford due to links between former Man Utd teammates. Rams head coach Wayne Rooney will be keen to avoid an upset versus City, who are part-owned by the likes of Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs.
Orient will have home advantage and past history on their side when trying to upset QPR in Wednesday’s televised EFL Cup tie. The O’s beat Rangers in this competition back in 2002 and 2007 and are rated a value bet to complete the hat-trick at Breyer Group Stadium.
PSV continued their impressive start to the new season when crushing Midtjylland 3-0 in Holland in the first leg of this Champions League qualifier. Roger Schmidt’s side are playing with great confidence, so they look worth sticking with in the return fixture in Denmark.
Rangers have given themselves work to do when entertaining Malmo in the second leg of their Champions League qualifier after losing 2-1 in Sweden. However, they have a formidable home record in Europe since Steven Gerrard took charge.