Rickie Lambert will get an instant reunion with his former teammates as Saints travel to Liverpool in a glamorous opening day fixture.

It could be an even more pointed game at Anfield if the Reds get their wish and also secure the services of Dejan Lovren and Adam Lallana this summer.

Lovren has handed in a transfer request to try and force the move through while Lallana has told Saints he wishes to move to join Lambert, who completed a dream move to Liverpool before heading off on World Cup duty with England.

The game is an immediate stand out highlight of the 2014/15 fixture list which has been revealed this morning.

New Saints boss Ronald Koeman will probably be delighted by what is a relatively kind start to his first campaign in charge at St Mary’s.

Saints only face two of last year’s top seven in their opening 12 fixtures, with the opener at Liverpool being joined by a match against former boss Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham in October.

Their other ten opening games see them take on West Brom, West Ham, Newcastle, Swansea, QPR, Sunderland, Stoke, Hull, Leicester and Aston Villa.

It gives Koeman the perfect chance to get some momentum under his belt before things get decidedly trickier.

Saints face a nightmare triple header of back-to-back fixtures against Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United at the end of November and the beginning of December.

There is a brief respite – which includes yet another away Boxing Day fixture, this time at Crystal Palace –before another nightmare triple header, starting with Chelsea, before the return matches against Arsenal and Manchester United.

Saints have a decent run-in but another massive game to bookend the season as they take on Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium to round off the campaign.

Saints' 2014/15 fixtures in full

DON'T FORGET - pick up your copy of tomorrow's Southern Daily Echo containing an eight-page supplement featuring all of Saints' 2014/15 fixtures in full.