Portsmouthvs.Bristol City

The Robins are currently sitting in 11th place in the Championship table, while Pompey are languishing at the foot of the standings.

Match preview

Portsmouth may have two games in hand over the teams above them, but they are currently sitting four points adrift of safety after winning two, drawing seven and losing seven of their 16 league matches.

While they may be in a perilous position, Pompey have at least managed to take four points from their last two Championship outings.

They claimed a 3-1 victory in their most recent home outing against Preston North End, before they played out a 2-2 draw with Swansea City in South Wales last weekend.

Matt Ritchie and Jacob Murphy grabbed a goal apiece to give Pompey a two-goal advantage, but Swansea staged a fightback to pull level by the 53rd minute, forcing Portsmouth to work hard to hold on to a point in the remainder of the contest.

Pompey will now turn their focus to Saturday's home fixture, with John Mousinho's side looking to go three league games without defeat for the first time this season.

Having failed to win their last four meetings with Bristol City, Portsmouth will try to claim their first competitive head-to-head victory since they recorded a 3-1 home win in September 2010.

Bristol City are five points adrift of the playoffs after winning six, drawing seven and losing five of their 18 league games this season.

The Robins have struggled for consistency in recent weeks, having won two and lost three of their previous five Championship matches.

Liam Manning's side began that run of results with a 2-1 defeat to Sheffield United, before they recorded a 2-0 away victory over Norwich City.

After going on to lose to Burnley and Watford, the Robins bounced back with an emphatic 4-0 victory over Plymouth Argyle last weekend thanks to an Anis Mehmeti brace as well as goals from Scott Twine and Sinclair Armstrong.

The Robins will now turn their focus to Saturday's trip to Fratton Park, and they will fancy their chances of claiming all three points after winning three of their previous five away matches.

Bristol City may be unbeaten in their last four competitive meetings with Portsmouth, but they have not beaten Pompey at Fratton Park since they recorded a 1-0 win in April 1999.

Portsmouth Championship form:

L

L

D

L

W

D

Bristol City Championship form:

W

L

W

L

L

W

Team News

Mousinho has confirmed that Portsmouth will be without Kusini Yengi for up to 10 weeks after he sustained a knee injury while he was on international duty with Australia last month.

The hosts are also without Jordan Williams, Ibane Bowat, Conor Shaughnessy and Jacob Farrell, while Mark O'Mahony is a doubt due to a hip issue.

Striker Colby Bishop is expected to make a second straight start, with Mousinho set to name an unchanged lineup for Saturday's contest.

As for the visitors, they are likely to be without the services of Kai Naismith, George Tanner, Ross McCrorie, Mark Sykes and Joe Williams.

Midfielder Marcus McGuane will come back into the matchday squad after missing the 4-0 win over Plymouth due to a back issue.

Sam Bell will provide Manning with an attacking option off the bench after he made his return from injury to feature as a late substitute last weekend.

Portsmouth possible starting lineup:

Schmid; Devlin, Poole, Pack, Ogilvie; Potts, Dozzell; Ritchie, Lang, Murphy; Bishop

Bristol City possible starting lineup:

O'Leary; Vyner, Dickie, McNally, Pring; Bird, Knight; Hirakawa, Twine, Mehmeti; Wells

We say: Portsmouth 1-1 Bristol City

Written by

Ben Sully

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