Preview: Portsmouth vs Middlesbrough - prediction, team news, lineups

Middlesbrough will look to extend their unbeaten start to the Championship season when they travel to Fratton Park for Saturday's meeting with Portsmouth.

Meanwhile, John Mousinho's side will be desperate to return to winning ways after failing to win any of their previous four matches.

Match preview

After taking seven points from their first four matches, Portsmouth have experienced a drop-off in form with just two points in their last four outings.

They played out a hard-fought goalless draw against local rivals Southampton, before they fell to back-to-back defeats against Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town.

Portsmouth were in a strong position to end their winless run at half time of Wednesday's home clash with Watford, after Tottenham Hotspur loanee Yang Min-hyeok scored his first Pompey goal to establish a narrow lead.

As it proved, Mousinho's side had to battle to rescue a point after conceding two goals inside the opening 11 minutes of the second period, with Adrian Segecic coming off the bench to net a 79th-minute equaliser to salvage a 2-2 draw.

As a result of their underwhelming form, Portsmouth head into the weekend in 17th position in the Championship standings, with three points separating them from the bottom three.

They now face the tough challenge of facing the unbeaten league leaders, although they may be able to draw inspiration from the 2-1 victory that they picked up in January's clash with Middlesbrough at Fratton Park.

After replacing Michael Carrick in the summer, Rob Edwards has made an impressive start to life as Middlesbrough head coach, having seen his side take 18 points from the opening eight league matches.

Despite sitting two points clear at the top of the table, Boro have lost some momentum in recent times, with their last four games producing one win and three draws.

After playing out a 2-2 scoreline with Preston North End, Middlesbrough went on to record a 2-1 home victory over West Bromwich Albion, before Mamadou Kely Sene netted a 77th-minute equaliser in last Saturday's 1-1 draw with Southampton.

They were then involved in a goalless affair against third-placed Stoke City on Tuesday, ensuring that they remain one of two teams yet to taste defeat in the Championship this season.

Boro also share the Championship's best defensive record with Stoke, having conceded just five goals across the opening eight matchdays.

Middlesbrough are likely to enter Saturday's fixture as favourites, although their hopes of claiming maximum points may be tempered by the fact that they have won just one of their last eight league games against Portsmouth (D5, L2).

Portsmouth Championship form:

D W D L L D

Middlesbrough Championship form:

W W D W D D

Team News

Portsmouth are expected to be without Thomas Waddingham, Franco Umeh, Callum Lang, Conor Shaughnessy and Nicolas Schmid due to injury.

Josh Murphy has sat out the last three games with an ankle injury, and it remains to be seen whether Pompey's talisman will return on Saturday, or be given extra time to recover over the international break.

Segecic is set to come back into the side after netting his third goal of the season in Wednesday's substitute appearance.

As for the visitors, they are unable to call upon the services of goalkeeper Seny Dieng, defender Darragh Lenihan and midfielder Riley McGree.

George Edmundson is unlikely to feature after he was forced off in the seventh minute of Tuesday's draw with Stoke due to a hamstring problem.

Edwards is hopeful that Dael Fry will be fit to start following his midweek substitute appearance, while Callum Brittain is aiming to shake off a foot issue in time for Saturday's away trip.

Portsmouth possible starting lineup:

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

Middlesbrough possible starting lineup:

Brynn; Ayling, Fry, Jones; Brittain, Morris, Hackney, Targett; Whittaker, Conway; Strelec

We say: Portsmouth 1-2 Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough have made an impressive start to the 2025-26 campaign, and we think that they will maintain their unbeaten record by claiming a narrow victory over a Portsmouth side that have lost two of their last three matches.

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