The men are due to compete in Lillehammer in Norway, which hosted the 1994 Winter Olympic Games, while the women take to the snow in the Russian city of Nizhny Tagil.

The two athletes are the current World Cup leaders and have both picked up two victories already this season.

Seventeen-year-old Prevc, the younger brother of defending champion and double Olympic medallist Peter Prevc, opened the new campaign with his first-ever victory in Ruka and then reigned supreme in Klingenthal in Germany last weekend.

He has a total of 220 points, with Germany’s Severin Freund, a member of the team which won Olympic gold at Sochi 2014, his closest challenger on 204 points.

Prevc, who has already emerged as a potential surprise contender for the Ski Jumping World Cup crown, will have the chance to extend his lead in Lillehammer.

There are two competitions planned in the Norwegian town, which come after qualification takes place tomorrow.

A number of the athletes who may be expected to challenge come the end of the season have suffered indifferent starts, with Peter Prevc languishing down in seventh and double Olympic champion Kamil Stoch of Poland currently 12th.

Japanese sensation Takanashi has already achieved more by the age of 19 than many of her counterparts will manage in their careers and has begun the 2016 to 2017 season in formidable fashion.

Takanashi, the World Cup holder, picked up her second consecutive win in Lillehammer last weekend and will head to Russia as the one to beat.

Her team-mate Yuki Ito has emerged as her nearest rival in the early stages having finished second behind her in the last two World Cup events.

Austria's Olympic silver medallist and 2014-15 World Cup winner Daniela Iraschko Stolz is among several jumpers in the women’s field who will attempt to secure their first victory of the season in Nizhny Tagil.

The women’s circuit mirrors that of the men, with qualification preceding two days of competition, concluding on Sunday (December 11).