Queen of the South take on Queen's Park in the Scottish League Cup on Saturday.
With Scottish Premiership side Motherwell in the same group as these two sides, it is probably a must-win fixture for both of them if they are to have a realistic chance of progressing to the knockout stages.
Match preview
After finishing sixth last season, Queen of the South will embark on their ninth successive season in the Scottish Championship when the league season begins at the end of July.
Former Scotland international midfielder Allan Johnston has been in charge of the club since 2019, narrowly avoiding relegation on a points-per-game basis in his first season in charge before it was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While automatic relegation was never a concern during a more impressive second season, Queen of the South did only finish three points ahead of Greenock Morton in the relegation playoff position, suggesting there is still plenty of room for improvement in the coming campaign.
Johnston is set to be under pressure from the outset, then, with anything short of victory against League One side Queen's Park on Saturday representing a below par beginning to the campaign.
Queen's Park, meanwhile, enjoyed a tremendous season last time out, winning League Two to compete in Scotland's third tier for the first time since 2018.
However, despite leading the Spiders to a remarkable 54 points from 22 league games, with second-placed Edinburgh City a distant 16 points behind them, Ray McKinnon stood down from his role as manager at the end of the season.
McKinnon's former assistant Laurie Ellis has usurped the vacant role for his first spell as a head coach, having only previously been caretaker manager of Dundee United.
The 41-year-old has already signed five new players, but more reinforcements could be required if they are to compete in League One, let alone with Premiership and Championship opposition like Motherwell and Queen of the South respectively in the League Cup in the coming weeks.
Team News
Johnston started five new signings in Saturday's 2-1 friendly win over Stranraer, and the quintet could retain their places as the 47-year-old aims to mould them into his plans.
Much will be expected of Portuguese forward Ruben Soares Junior, who impressed while on trial from Billericay Town and has made the move permanent as a result.
Ellis, meanwhile, had three new signings in his starting lineup for the 2-2 draw against Raith Rovers at the weekend.
One of those was 20-year-old Jake Davidson, with the defender clearly impressing Ellis during their time together at Dundee United.
Queen of the South possible starting lineup:
Rae; Gibson, Nditi, McKay, East; McGrory, Todd; Connelly, Todd, Joseph; Junior
Queen's Park possible starting lineup:
Muir; Doyle, Kilday, Morrison, Davidson, Robson; Lyon, Moore, Brown; Longridge, Baynham
We say: Queen of the South 2-0 Queen's Park
Queen of the South should have too much quality for their forthcoming opponents, who were playing two divisions lower than them last season.
It remains to be seen how the surprise departure of McKinnon affects Queen's Park in the coming campaign, with Ellis a rookie in the head coach role.
Top tip
Brett Curtis
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Queen's Park win with a probability of 43.16%. A win for Queen of the South had a probability of 32.99% and a draw had a probability of 23.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Queen's Park win was 1-2 with a probability of 8.99%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (7.71%) and 0-2 (6.36%). The likeliest Queen of the South win was 2-1 (7.71%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.9%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 7.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Queen's Park would win this match.
