Preview:Hull City vs Portsmouth - prediction, team news, lineups

Hull City will look to extend their five-game unbeaten home streak when they face Portsmouth in Saturday's clash at the MKM Stadium.

Meanwhile, the visitors will be desperate to end their five-match winless run in the final round of Championship fixtures before the international break.

Match preview

Hull are sitting in eighth place and one point adrift of the playoffs after winning six, drawing four and losing four of their 14 league matches this season.

The Tigers recently put together an impressive run of form that saw them win four matches in a six-game unbeaten run, only for that impressive streak to be ended in Tuesday's away clash with Derby County.

Joel Ndala's second-half equaliser appeared to put Hull on course for a useful point, before Lars-Jorgen Salvesen struck in the 83rd minute to leave the Tigers empty-handed.

While they may have extended disappointment in midweek, the Tigers at least managed to score in their 12th consecutive game since they drew a blank in a 3-0 defeat to Blackburn Rovers on August 23.

Incidentally, Hull have put together a strong run of home form since that heavy loss, having avoided defeat in each of their last five matches at the MKM Stadium (W3, D2).

The Tigers are unbeaten in their last three matches with Portsmouth (W1, D2), including a 1-1 scoreline that kept them out of the drop zone on the final day of last season.

Portsmouth would love nothing more than to pick up three much-needed points on Saturday, having gone five games without a win since beating Middlesbrough at the start of October.

The South-coast side recently endured a three-game losing run, which saw them lose at home to Coventry City and Stoke City, before they slumped to a heavy 4-0 defeat in last Saturday's away clash with Birmingham City.

Pompey did at least end their losing spell with an improved performance in Wednesday's home meeting with Wrexham, although they were unable to find the breakthrough in a goalless draw at Fratton Park.

Having won just one of their last 10 matches, Pompey head into the weekend in 20th place and five points clear of the bottom three.

John Mousinho's charges need to improve in the final third if they are to move away from the drop zone, considering that they have drawn a blank in their previous three games and are the league's lowest scorers with 10 goals.

History suggests that Pompey should fancy their chances of taking at least a point off Hull this season, having lost just one of their previous nine away matches against the Tigers (W4, D4).

Hull City Championship form:

W W W D W L

Portsmouth Championship form:

W D L L L D

Team News

Hull boss Sergej Jakirovic is still having to contend without the services of Oli McBurnie, Mohamed Belloumi, Eliot Matazo, Liam Millar, Kasey Palmer and John Lundstram.

Amir Hadziahmetovic could return to the Hull midfield after dropping down to the bench for Tuesday's defeat to Derby.

Joe Gelhardt should offer one of the home side's main attacking threats, having scored four times in the club's last five matches.

As for visitors, their lengthy absentee list features the attacking quintet of Harvey Blair, Callum Lang, Adrian Segecic, Franco Umeh and Thomas Waddingham.

Mousinho also remains without first-choice goalkeeper Nicolas Schmid, as well as the defensive duo of Jacob Farrell and Conor Shaughnessy.

Connor Ogilvie is also set to miss the trip to Hull after being forced off in the first half against Wrexham due to a knee issue.

Hull City possible starting lineup:

Pandur; Ajayi, Egan, Hughes; Drameh, Hadziahmetovic, Slater, Giles; Crooks; Gelhardt, Ndala

Portsmouth possible starting lineup:

Bursik; Poole, Knight, Bowat; Devlin, Le Roux, Dozzell, Williams; Chaplin, Murphy; Bishop

We say: Hull City 3-1 Portsmouth

Hull may have experienced disappointment in their midweek away meeting with Derby, but they have proven to be a strong force on home turf with three wins in their last five outings at the MKM Stadium.

With that in mind, we think that they will make full use of home advantage to see off a Portsmouth side that have lost two of their previous three away assignments.

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