Colchester's Carabao Cup first-round clash with Southampton has been chosen for live TV coverage. The U's meeting with the Saints at the JobServe Community Stadium on Saturday, August 8 will kick-off at 5.30pm and be screened live on Sky Sports Football.

What's at stake?

Colchester are set to come up against their former head coach Ben Garner, who is assistant coach to head coach Tonda Eckert, at Southampton. The U's could also face their former loanee Romeo Akachukwu, who spent time on loan in North Essex last season.

Recent form

Colchester finished the previous season in 12th place in League Two, with 66 points from 46 games, and a recent form of WLLWW. They will be hoping to make further progress in the competition than they did last season, when they bowed out at the first-round stage to Oxford United.

The opposition

Southampton will be playing their first competitive match since the 'Spygate' scandal, which saw them thrown out of the play-off final for spying on semi-final opponents Middlesbrough. Colchester will be looking to capitalize on this and make a strong start to their season.

What comes next?

The match against Southampton will be Colchester's first competitive fixture of the new 2026/27 season, ahead of the League Two big kick-off on August 15. With a goal difference of +13 from the previous season, having scored 62 goals and conceded 49, Colchester will be looking to build on this and make a push for the top of the league. Their last result was a 4-1 win over Cheltenham on May 2, 2026, and they are currently on a 2-game winning run.