Portsmouthvs.Watford

The hosts will head into the game in 18th place in the Championship table, while the Hornets are in 12th position with three games left to play.

Match preview

Portsmouth are on the brink of securing safety after bouncing back from consecutive defeats to take four points from their last two matches.

They came from behind on a couple of occasions to rescue a 2-2 draw against Derby County, before they produced one of their best performances of the season to claim a 5-3 victory in Friday's away meeting with Norwich City.

Colby Bishop scored his first Portsmouth hat-trick, alongside goals from Matt Ritchie and Regan Poole, to secure the club's third Championship away victory of the season.

As a result, Pompey now boasts a sizeable six-point gap to the bottom three with just three games left to play against Watford, Sheffield Wednesday and Hull City.

A draw or a win on Monday could secure Pompey's survival if results elsewhere go their way, and they will fancy their chances of claiming maximum points after winning 10 of their previous 15 home league matches (D3, L2).

The South Coast side can also take confidence from the fact they have won each of their previous four meetings with Watford.

The Hornets have little to play for in their final three matches after their playoff hopes were ended by a poor run of form that has seen them win just one of their last six games (D1, L4).

In fact, Watford have lost three of their previous four matches, including their last two outings since beating Hull City 1-0 at Vicarage Road.

After losing 2-1 to West Bromwich Albion in their most recent away game, the Hornets fell to the same scoreline in Friday's home clash against promotion-chasing Burnley despite taking the lead through Mamadou Doumbia.

Zian Flemming and Josh Brownhill grabbed a goal apiece to turn the game in Burnley's favour, before Watford's hopes of salvaging a point were extinguished by red cards to both Moussa Sissoko and Edo Kayembe.

Tom Cleverley will be looking for his team to produce a positive response in Monday's fixture, but that will be easier said than done, given the fact they have failed to win any of their last four away matches since they beat Middlesbrough in the middle of February.

Watford are hoping to complete a league double over Portsmouth for the first time since 2001-02 after edging out Portsmouth via a 2-1 scoreline in December's reverse fixture.

Portsmouth Championship form:

L

W

L

L

D

W

Watford Championship form:

L

D

L

W

L

L

Team News

Portsmouth remain without the services of Callum Lang, Paddy Lane, Alexander Milosevic, Ibane Bowat, Hayden Matthews and Jacob Farrell.

Forward Thomas Waddingham is unlikely to be involved after being absent from the last two matchday squads with a hamstring problem.

Conor Shaughnessy is closing in on a return to fitness, but Monday's contest may come too soon for the central defender.

As for the Hornets, Cleverley is still unable to call upon Kwadwo Baah, Giorgi Chakvetadze, Yasser Larouci and Angelo Ogbonna.

Defender Kevin Keben is hoping to make the matchday squad after missing the last nine matches with a muscle injury.

The experienced duo of Sissoko and Kayembe are both suspended following their red cards in Friday's defeat to Burnley.

Portsmouth possible starting lineup:

Schmid; Swanson, Poole, Atkinson, Ogilvie; Potts, Dozzell; Ritchie, Aouchiche, Murphy; Bishop

Watford possible starting lineup:

Selvik; Ngakia, Pollock, Abankwah, Wiley; Dele-Bashiru, Louza, Dwomoh; Ince, Vata, Doumbia

We say: Portsmouth 2-1 Watford

Written by

Ben Sully

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