The new EFL season is upon us as Watford host Middlesbrough at Vicarage Road this evening in the Sky Bet Championship.

Two sides that will be gunning for promotion this campaign, Watford are looking to bounce back from relegation out of the Premier League whilst Neil Warnock is going for another top-two finish with Boro.

How will this one play out this evening, though? Some of our writers discuss...

Alfie Burns

Opening day fixtures are always tough to call and this one is no different!

Watford, on paper, have a squad that should tear up the Championship, but that’s been the case for Aston Villa, Fulham, Stoke City and many others over the last few seasons. Simply, you don’t win things on paper.

In addition to those doubts, you’ve got Neil Warnock and Boro in the opposing dugout. That’s another squad that should have torn the Championship to pieces a few years back and there’s some serious talent in that group.

Warnock is a master of the Championship and he hasn’t signed up at Boro to kick around mid-table. He wants a promotion push.

That makes this a banana skin for ‘favourites’ Watford. I’ll go with a surprise Boro win to kick off the Championship.

Quiz: 6 of these Middlesbrough facts are false – Can you identify them?

Jacob Potter

I think Watford will run out winners here.

You only have to take a look at their squad after the squad numbers were confirmed to see how much depth they have this season.

I still think they'll lose a few more players before the summer transfer window closes, but for now, they've got a squad that should be winning a lot of matches in the Championship.

Middlesbrough are at the opposite end of the scale in terms of depth, and Neil Warnock has already admitted that.

Boro have some solid players in their squad, and the likes of Britt Assombalonga and Ashley Fletcher could cause the Hornets some issues tonight.

But on the whole, I just can't see anything else but a Watford win at Vicarage Road in the season opener tonight.

George Harbey

This is a really tough one to call.

Watford obviously have a huge amount of players in their squad and some of them, on paper, are far too good to be playing in the Championship and, if they stay and fit into the manager's style of play, then they could be a force to be reckoned with this season.

Ultimately, though, it all comes down to whether Vladimir Ivic can get the best out of his players and adapt to life in the Championship because it's a competitive division and a tough one to crack.

Neil Warnock will have his players fired up for the season ahead and he has a rather small squad on the contrary, but they have made some positive additions and are likely to pride themselves on being solid defensively and well-organised this season to avoid a repeat of last season.

I'm going to sit on the fence and say a draw.