Wrexham’s long-awaited return to the second tier of English football is now less than a day away.
After securing yet another promotion in April, the Dragons will play their football in the Championship this season.
The second tier returned on Friday evening with promotion favourites Ipswich Town taking on Birmingham City.
Meanwhile, Wrexham play Southampton on Saturday at 12:30pm BST on August 8.
Ahead of the game, plenty of predictions have been made, and for the most part, the Dragons are being tipped to struggle.
Troy Deeney shares Southampton vs Wrexham score prediction
Opta have given Wrexham less than 18 percent chance of beating Southampton this weekend.
Sam Parkin has said Will Still’s side will win the fixture, but does back the Welsh club to score.
Now, former Birmingham striker Troy Deeney has made his Championship predictions for gameweek 1 of the campaign.
And unlike most, he is actually backing Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac’s club to pick up three points.
He said via his TikTok account: “Southampton vs Wrexham, again, loads of pressure on Southampton.
“Young squad, great football pitch, got a good manager in there (Will Still) as well that we’ve seen in France and we’ve seen him on Monday Night Football; can he deliver in the Championship?
“This is going to be the question. We’re not sure. But Wrexham know what they’re going to bring: tried and tested, they’re going to be fit, they’re going to be organised, there’s going to be a lot of crosses into the box.
“I fancy Wrexham just to nick this, you know. Wrexham 2-1 Southampton. I think Southampton will be good over the course of the season, but to start the season, I think they’re going to struggle.”
Key Wrexham stats before Southampton
Wrexham go into the meeting on a 10-game unbeaten run in league matches.
They last had a longer unbeaten run in the EFL between March and August 2003, which lasted for 18 games.
Southampton have won just six league matches in 2025 – no side in the top-four divisions has picked up fewer wins this calendar year.
When the fixture at St Mary’s kicks off, it will be Wrexham’s first game in the second tier for 43 years and 86 days.