At the Kassam Stadium, Oxford United will host Norwich City in their Championship comeback game.
The visiting team will be looking to push for promotion under their new head coach, while the home team will be focused on merely surviving.
It should not have been shocking when Johannes Hoff Thorup was appointed manager of Norwich, considering the team has a history of hiring foreign coaches.
Throughout his tenure at Nordsjaelland, the 35-year-old developed a solid resume, winning 34 of his 67 games as manager and placing second in the Danish Superliga in 2022–2023.
Callum Doyle, a defender for Manchester City, was only the third senior acquisition of the summer, indicating that time is being taken to bring in new players.
Even yet, the arrival of Ben Chrisene and Jose Cordoba at Carrow Road appears to have strengthened the backline enough, considering that Norwich gave up 64 goals in the Championship the previous year.
Preseason action saw them win just once, against Northampton Town on July 13. Their most recent loss, which came last weekend against St. Pauli, a newcomer to the Bundesliga, was against them.
Oxford, meanwhile, are the clear favorites to finish bottom of the division since they have been playing English football in the second tier for the past 26 years.
Nevertheless, after his team convincingly defeated Bolton Wanderers in the League One playoff final in May, Des Buckingham will see this as an opportunity.
There have been other noteworthy acquisitions, such as Matt Phillips, a winger for West Bromwich, and Will Vaulks, a midfielder for Sheffield Wednesday.
Prior to losing to Palermo by the same score, Buckingham’s team defeated Southampton 2-0 in the Premier League to make sure his players were put to the test in the preseason.
