Saracens captain Owen Farrell says his team are relishing their return to the StoneX Stadium for the first home game of the season against Gloucester on Saturday. 

The Men in Black are hoping for back-to-back wins to kick off their new Premiership campaign, after recovering emphatically from an early 17-point deficit to defeat rivals Harlequins 30-27 last weekend. 

England international Maro Itoje is missing from Mark McCall’s 23-man squad, with forwards Mako Vunipola, Jamie George and Andy Christie all promoted from the replacements bench. 

It will be an extra special event in north London as the newly-opened West Stand will be in use for the very first time, but Farrell knows the visitors will fancy themselves to spoil the party. 

“We’re all enormously excited to get out there for our first home game of the season which is always a great occasion,” said Farrell. 

“Gloucester are a top side who have made huge improvements over the last couple of years so we know that it will be a very tough game.” 

In the only other change to the Saracens’ line-up, Scotland international Duncan Taylor starts in the midfield in place of Nick Tompkins, who made his 150th appearance for the club against Quins. 

It promises to be an intriguing clash, with both sides sitting level on points after Gloucester mounted a massive comeback of their own to beat Wasps on the opening weekend. 

The Cherry and Whites were similarly slow starters but registered 27 second-half points without reply to overturn a record 21-point shortfall. 

What makes the clash even more fascinating is the chance to see whether McCall’s men will persist with the new expansive, run-first approach that was on show at The Stoop.

Saracens made 17 offloads to Quins’ one, and the kicking statistics – the away side only made six box kicks across the 80 minutes - hinted at a shift in method towards gaining territory in more unpredictable ways.

The high-risk factor of this change in style was shown when Farrell unwittingly tipped back into the arms of Alex Dombrandt on the 22 for Quins' third try.

But on the other hand, it also produced some sumptuous rugby that dragged Saracens back into the game.

What is for certain, if this fresh approach is to stay, we could be in for another thrilling match on Saturday.