Southampton fans will be eagerly counting down the days now until the latest instalment of the South Coast Derby kicks off.
Amazingly, with how long the international break has been, it'll have been basically a month since the Saints last played in front of their die-hard home fans at St. Mary's, when Portsmouth make the very short journey over to enemy territory on Sunday.
Therefore, the buzz in the air will be immense when the first ball is kicked, with Southampton fans hoping for another swashbuckling attacking performance from their beloved side, as 15 goals have been scored with ease on their own patch so far this season in Championship action.
This journalist has backed one eye-catching Saints attacker in particular who he believes will have a field day, when John Mousinho's men travel over to a hostile Southampton home atmosphere.
The Saints star backed to score
The Daily Echo's Dan Hargraves has stuck his neck out with this prediction for the South Coast Derby.
He believes that Leo Scienza will be the opening goalscorer during the tense contest to come, with Hargraves going as far as to state that if he was a "betting man", he would be put his hard-earned cash on the Brazilian breaking the deadlock at St. Mary's.
There is a lot of logic behind his outspoken thoughts, as he did score during the last feisty meeting between the two teams, as the quick number seven helped the Saints to a 1-1 draw at Fratton Park during the infancy of Eckert's full-time stay as manager.
The ex-Heidenheim winger loved being the pantomime villain on this occasion, with the Pompey fans resoundingly booing the South American trickster after he scored, and then celebrated right in front of them.
He stated, after the full-time whistle was blown, that he loved the "emotions" a derby match can bring, with his goal lauded as an "amazing" personal moment he will cherish.
If he thrived in that environment back in January, he will surely feel even more at home in an equally boisterous setting on Sunday, knowing the large majority of supporters packed into St Mary's want him to succeed.
Scienza would also crave the spotlight being back on him, if he fired home another memorable South Coast Derby strike, as he has blown hot and cold at points this campaign.
He has experienced a hot-and-cold season so far
Scienza hasn't quite hit Cyle Larin's frightening levels so far this season, with the Brazilian only managing two Championship strikes so far, next to the Brampton Bagsman's league best tally of seven.
He has only fired home one weak goal across his last five second tier outings, as well, with the emphatic 4-1 win against Bristol City last month crazily seeing Scienza fail to register a single effort at Sam Tickle's goal.
Hopefully, the downtime has allowed the 28-year-old to get some rest, and he's fired up for a game of the South Coast Derby's magntiude, as his passion, and his obvious class down the flanks, allowed him to score at Fratton Park.
The number seven also stands a great chance of adding another goal to his column for the season, when you look at the widespread injury issues troubling the Pompey backline, with both Benjamin Arthur and Conor Shaughnessy unlikely to feature during the lunchtime kick-off.
If he can be the hero, again, it should - fingers crossed - stand him in good stead to keep the goals flowing all across October, as the Saints aim to rise the league standings with style, starting with their sworn South Coast foes being put to the sword.
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