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

Promotion-chasing Leicester City will resume their Championship campaign with a home clash against Portsmouth on Saturday evening.

The Foxes return from the international window in third position, while the visitors will head into the weekend in 14th spot in the Championship standings.

Match preview

After suffering relegation from the Premier League last term, Leicester look set to be a prominent figure in the Championship promotion race, having won four, drawn four and lost one of their opening nine league matches.

Marti Cifuentes's side won three of their opening four league matches (L1) before they lost some momentum with a run of four consecutive draws.

However, the Foxes managed to return to winning ways before the international break, claiming a 3-1 away victory over Swansea City following goals from Jordan James, Abdul Fatawu and Jannik Vestergaard.

That result extended their unbeaten run to seven Championship games, and left them two points adrift of second-placed Middlesbrough and three points away from leaders Coventry City.

The Foxes will also enter the weekend as one of seven teams yet to lose a Championship home match this season, having taken eight points from their first four outings at the King Power Stadium.

Leicester will be keen to maintain their unbeaten record in their first meeting with Portsmouth in 14 years, although they have not won a head-to-head league game since running out 3-1 winners in May 2004.

Portsmouth, who finished in 16th spot last term, are sitting in 14th place in the Championship standings after collecting 12 points from their opening nine matches.

John Mousinho's endured a four-game winless run before they returned to winning ways against Middlesbrough in their final outing before the international break.

Tottenham Hotspur loanee Yang Min-hyeok scored the decisive goal in a 1-0 victory to condemn Boro to their first defeat of the Championship campaign.

Mousinho will now be challenging his side to win back-to-back games for the first time this season, although that will be easier said than done for a team that have gone three consecutive away games without a victory.

Portsmouth will have their work cut out to trouble a Leicester backline that has conceded just twice in four home games, especially as the visitors have netted just eight times in nine league matches this term.

With that said, Pompey have scored in each of their last six away league games against Leicester, while they have avoided defeat in their last four head-to-head meetings (W2, D2).

Leicester City Championship form:

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Portsmouth Championship form:

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Team News

Leicester remain without the injured Harry Souttar, while Stephy Mavididi is a doubt after he sat out the win over Swansea earlier this month.

Cifuentes could be tempted to name an unchanged lineup for Saturday's contest, as long as there are no fresh injury concerns following the international window.

Aaron Ramsey is set to provide a useful option off the bench after returning from a three-match ban to feature as a substitute at the Swansea.com Stadium.

As for Portsmouth, Mousinho is unable to call upon Nicolas Schmid, Jacob Farrell, Conor Shaughnessy, Callum Lang, Franco Umeh and Thomas Waddingham.

Josh Murphy is closing in on a return to action following an ankle issue, although the talismanic winger is unlikely to be ready for the trip to the King Power Stadium.

Adrian Segecic will be hoping to earn a starting spot after settling for subsittute appearances in the final two matches before the international break.

Leicester City possible starting lineup:

Stolarczyk; Pereira, Faes, Vestergaard, Thomas; James, Winks; Fatawu, De Cordova-Reid, Monga; Daka

Portsmouth possible starting lineup:

Bursik; Williams, Knight, Poole, Ogilvie; Pack, Dozzell; Segecic, Chaplin, Yang; Bishop

We say: Leicester City 2-2 Portsmouth

Both teams should be in high spirits after winning before the international break, and while Leicester and Portsmouth will be targeting back-to-back wins, we think that they will have to settle for a share of the spoils, considering that the Foxes have drawn their last two home games and the visitors have seen two of their previous three away matches finish all square.

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