York City make their first appearance in the EFL in a decade as they lock horns with Bristol Rovers on the opening day of the League Two season.
The Yorkshire club are expected to take to League Two like a duck to water, with many tipping them for a play-off push.
Their preparations for this season have been unorthodox to say the least, with the club letting go of title-winning manager Stuart Maynard and replacing him with Scott Lindsay this summer. The move was controversial at best and it's arguably piled unnecessary pressure on the team heading into the campaign.
In the transfer window, centre-back Malachi Fagan-Walcott was snapped up by Hearts but York have been far from static in the market, bringing in ten players so far, meaning their squad is looking strong heading into the campaign.
York's pre-season results weren't particularly impressive, where the Minstermen won only two of six games. They were then beaten 0-2 by Crawley Town in their EFL Cup first round game last weekend.
They still look set to have a strong campaign but they've been given a baptism of fire this weekend against a side many are tipping for automatic promotion.
Bristol Rovers came 14th last season but their final league position arguably wasn't a true representation of their strength as a team. They finished the campaign like an unstoppable force, winning ten of their final twelve games under manager Steve Evans, who came into the role at Christmas time.
The Pirates have added ten players to their squad this summer and given they have a manager with a wealth of EFL experience, and plenty of that involving promotion pushes, they look well placed to be one of the league's better sides.
Four of Bristol Rovers' last five league games have seen BTTS occur, while four of the last five head-to-head meetings between these two have seen both sides find the back of the net, so we expect a competitive affair.
The Pirates have lost only one league game since February and so this is far from an easy task, but we think they'll nick an excellent three points on the opening weekend.
York City 1-2 Bristol Rovers






















