**It has been a bumpy start to the new Guinness PRO14 season so far for Edinburgh, with last season’s semi-finalists winless after their opening two games.** Richard Cockerill’s men will hope to turn their fortunes around this weekend, though, with the visit of Connacht who sit just one place above them in Conference B. Andy Friend’s side began the new campaign on a winning note but a defeat against Cardiff Blues last time out means the Irish province are also coming into the game with a point to prove. **What’s at stake?** A victory for Edinburgh would see the Scottish capital side leapfrog their opponents. It has been a frustrating start to the season so far for last year’s Conference B table-toppers Edinburgh, who were surprisingly beaten 25-10 by Ospreys in Round 1 at BT Murrayfield. A narrow 25-23 defeat to Munster a week later was yet another sucker punch, having led the way for most of the game, with a losing bonus point proving scant consolation. Meanwhile, Connacht were inspired by Bundee Aki to a 28-24 win over Glasgow Warriors in their opener before stalling against the Blues, who triumphed 29-7 in Round 2. **What happened last time they met?** Edinburgh ran riot when these two sides clashed earlier this year, maintaining their place at the top of Conference B with a dominant 41-14 bonus-point victory at BT Murrayfield. The hosts raced into a 20-point lead through a penalty try and Simon Berghan’s score back in February before Connacht reduced the gap to 20-7 at the break through Tiernan O’Halloran. O’Halloran crossed again after the restart to cut the deficit to six but Pierre Schoeman, Duhan van der Merwe and another penalty try secured all the points for a rampant Edinburgh. **What have they said?** **Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill said:** “We’ve obviously got quite a few players unavailable due to injury or international selection, but we’re excited for the challenge of taking on a very good Connacht outfit. “We’ve had a bit of time to take stock after the opening two rounds and we’ve had a good, solid week of preparation in the build-up to tomorrow night’s fixture. “We’re proud of our home record, we like playing at BT Murrayfield and the squad we’ve selected will be desperate to impress and make sure we come away with a positive result.” **Connacht head coach Andy Friend said:** “There’s no doubt that Edinburgh have been one of the form teams in the competition for the last year and have quality all over the pitch. “That said, we learned a lot from our game in Cardiff and we’re expecting this to be a similar type of encounter, so I’m confident we can build on that and put in a performance capable of getting a win. “Edinburgh and Cardiff play a very similar style of game. We knew what we needed to do, and we did it on the whole. We did it very well. “On the four occasions out of 21 that we chose not to do what we said we were going to do, we leaked 21 points. The evidence is pretty clear for us: stick to the game plan, stick to task and it will work for us.” **What’s the team news?** With 17 players unavailable due to injury or international duty, Edinburgh are fielding an inexperienced side as they bid to get off the mark against Connacht. Jack Blain makes his first start at BT Murrayfield from full-back while Andrew Davidson is also included among the 12 changes to the side which lost last time out against Munster. Meanwhile, Connacht have also handed six players their first starts of the season. **Edinburgh:** Jack Blain; Ernoi Sau, James Johnstone, Chris Dean, Jamie Farndale; Jaco van der Walt, Nic Groom; Pierre Schoeman, Mike Willemse, WP Nel, Lewis Carmichael, Andrew Davidson, Magnus Bradbury, Ally Miller, Mesulame Kunavula **Replacements:** David Cherry, Jamie Bhatti, Murray McCallum, Jamie Hodgson, Connor Boyle, Henry Pyrgos, Nathan Chamberlain, George Turner **Connacht:** John Porch, Sammy Arnold, Tom Farrell, Tom Daly, Alex Wootton, Conor Fitzgerald, Caolin Blade, Denis Buckley, Shane Delahunt, Jack Aungier, Eoghan Masterson, Gavin Thornbury, Paul Boyle, Jarrad Butler (Capt), Abraham Papali’i **Replacements:** Jonny Murphy, Paddy McAllister, Dominic Robertson-McCoy, Cian Prendergast, Conor Oliver, Colm Reilly, Peter Robb, Tiernan O’Halloran **Where’s the key battle?** With both sides missing several players due to the return of international rugby, Edinburgh and Connacht have made plenty of changes to their starting line-ups for the fixture. As a result, the half-back partnership will be vital to ensuring both teams' tick. Conor Fitzgerald and Caolin Blade form a new-look duo for Connacht while they will face Edinburgh’s more experienced pairing of Nic Groom and Jaco van der Walt. **Where can I watch it?** The match kicks off at 7.35pm on Sunday and will be live on Premier Sports 1, with coverage starting at 7pm. It will also be on eir Sport 1, SuperSport Rugby, ESPN+ (USA) and pro14.tv.
