Match Pack: Colchester vs Saints
Southampton’s first competitive fixture of the season takes them to Essex to take on Colchester United in the first round of the Carabao Cup. Get set for 2026/27 with our first Match Pack of the new campaign…
THE MATCH
Colchester United vs Saints
Carabao Cup first round
Colchester Community Stadium
Saturday 8th August, 5.30pm BST
THE OFFICIALS
Referee: Isaac Searle
Assistant Referees: Ian Cooper and Christopher Myatt
Fourth Official: Emily Heaslip
THE KITS
Saints will wear the club’s 2026/27 home strip of red-and-white-striped shirts, black shorts and black socks. The hosts will be in their traditional colours of blue-and-white-striped shirts, blue shorts and white socks.
TICKETS
Saints’ allocation of 1,500 tickets has sold out for the game at Colchester Community Stadium, which has a capacity of 10,105.
LIVE COVERAGE
The game will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Football (coverage from 5pm BST) and Sky Sports Main Event (from 5.15pm BST).
Saints Play audio passes are available to supporters worldwide, priced at £5 for a month or £50 for a year.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
In a new initiative for 2026/27, the Carabao Cup first round falls on a weekend and signals the first competitive fixture of the new season for all of the clubs involved.
Bristol City kicked things off on Thursday night with the first tie of the round, losing 1-0 at home to League Two Walsall, sending a warning to the rest of the Championship sides.
Colchester finished one point above Walsall last season in 12th, but failed to win any of their last four pre-season friendlies, including defeats to Peterborough, Charlton and Stevenage.
Saints won three of their four friendlies and have a settled squad that ended last season in blistering form with a 21-match unbeaten run in Championship action.
TEAM NEWS
Colchester: The U's have made six summer signings, including permanent moves for Sean Raggett (Rotherham), Jake Leake (Oldham) and Paul Digby (Dundee), and loan swoops for Bradley Ihionvien (Peterborough), Leon Chiwome (Wolves) and Thimothée Lo-Tutala (Hull).
Saints: Lewis Dobbin is available to make his competitive debut after impressing in pre-season, while fellow summer signing Cyle Larin could play his first minutes since returning from the World Cup.
THE MANAGERS
Danny Cowley: “I did smile when we got drawn against Southampton. Having lived in Portsmouth before, I know that rivalry pretty well. It’s an exciting fixture for us.
"It will have a lot of media attention, for obvious reasons. For us, it’s a great game. We play probably the highest-ranked team in the competition at this stage.”
Tonda Eckert: “Pre-season games are always nice but you have to manage minutes. Now we go. The week has been just like we’ve prepared for every Championship game.
"We’ve had normal meetings and we’ve prepared Colchester in detail to make sure the players know what’s coming up. I’m just happy that we start playing real football again.”
ONES TO WATCH
Jack Payne: Scoring a career-high 13 goals from midfield last season, the diminutive Payne is sure to be one of Colchester’s chief attacking threats again this season.
A veteran of the lower leagues, the U’s became the 31-year-old’s 10th different EFL club when he signed from Charlton in the summer of 2024.
Lewis Dobbin: Saints’ only new face so far this summer is promising attacker Dobbin, who has hit the ground running with his impressive form in pre-season.
Scoring on his debut at Eastleigh, he added further goals against SC Paderborn and SC Preuẞen Münster in Germany, also assisting Damion Downs’ winner against Eintracht Braunschweig.
TOP PERFORMERS 2025/26
Colchester
Goals:
Payne 13
Anderson 12
Lisbie 11
Assists:
Payne 6
Lisbie, Tovide 5
Edwards, Anderson 4
Saints
Goals:
Azaz, Stewart, Armstrong 11
Larin 9
Manning 8
Assists:
Scienza 10
Azaz, Fellows 8
Manning 7
PRE-SEASON RESULTS
Colchester
Stevenage (a) L 0-1
Charlton (h) L 0-2
West Ham U21 (h) D 2-2 (Raggett, Oni)
Peterborough (h) L 2-3 (Edwards, Leonard pen, Khela)
Harlow (a) W 5-0 (Lisbie, Terry, Payne pen, Emery, Kuffour)
Heybridge (a) W 4-0 (Anderson 2, Ihionvien, Connolly)
West Ham (a) L 2-3 (Payne, Raggett)
Norwich (a) 0-0
Saints
SC Preuẞen Münster (a) W 2-1 (Scienza, Dobbin)
SC Paderborn (a) L 1-2 (Dobbin)
Eintracht Braunschweig (a) W 1-0 (Downs)
Eastleigh (a) W 3-1 (Dobbin, Oyekunle, Akachukwu)
HEAD TO HEAD
Played: 28
Colchester wins: 8
Draws: 7
Saints wins: 13
LAST FIVE MEETINGS
Mar 2011: Colchester 0-2 Saints League One (Oxlade-Chamberlain, Hammond)
Sep 2010: Saints 0-0 Colchester League One
Dec 2009: Colchester 2-1 Saints League One (Lambert pen)
Sep 2009: Saints 0-0 Colchester League One
Dec 2007: Colchester 1-1 Saints Championship (Viáfara)
KEEP UP TO DATE
Not able to make it to the game? Download the official Saints app to follow live in-match updates and follow us on social media for further updates and exclusive content:
