Preview: Portsmouth vs Preston North End - prediction, team news, lineups

Preston North End will look to maintain their unbeaten start to the Championship season when they travel to Fratton Park for Saturday's meeting with Portsmouth.

Meanwhile, the hosts will be keen to pick up maximum points after failing to win any of their last three matches in all competitions.

Match preview

After finishing in 16th place last term, Portsmouth will have aspirations of pushing on in their second consecutive season in the second tier.

John Mousinho's side made a positive start to the campaign, edging out Oxford United via a 1-0 scoreline in their opening day clash at the Kassam Stadium.

However, they have struggled to build upon that narrow victory, going on to lose 2-1 in back-to-back home games against Reading and Norwich respectively, before they fought hard to take a point from last Saturday's away meeting with West Bromwich Albion.

Colby Bishop headed home from Josh Murphy's inviting cross in the 56th minute to cancel out Mikey Johnston's first-half opener at The Hawthorns.

Portsmouth will now be looking to pick up their second win of the season in Saturday's home game against Preston, which represents the final opportunity to build confidence before Pompey lock horns with bitter rivals Southampton at St Mary's following the September international break.

After beating Preston 3-1 at Fratton Park last season, the hosts have the chance to record successive home league victories against PNE for the first time since September 1967.

Preston finished just a point clear of the drop zone last term after they plummeted down the table with an eight-game winless league run.

They have ultimately made sure that they have not carried that poor form into the new season, having started positively with seven points from three league outings.

Preston kicked off the campaign with a league draw against Queens Park Rangers and an EFL Cup win over Barrow, before they recorded back-to-back home victories against Leicester City and Ipswich Town.

Milutin Osmajic scored the winner in both of those Championship wins, including the decisive penalty in last Saturday's meeting with the Tractor Boys, ensuring that they are one of seven teams yet to lose in the Championship this season.

While they may be unbeaten in the league, PNE warmed up for Saturday's fixture with a disappointing 3-2 defeat in Tuesday's EFL Cup second-round clash against Wrexham.

Preston have proven a tough team to beat in recent games against Portsmouth, having avoided defeat in five of their previous six encounters (W2, D3), including a 2-1 home victory in their previous clash in March.

Portsmouth Championship form:

W L D

Portsmouth form (all competitions):

W L L D

Preston North End Championship form:

D W W

Preston North End form (all competitions):

D W W W L

Team News

Portsmouth attacker Callum Lang will be out of action for eight to 12 weeks after recently undergoing hamstring surgery.

Mousinho is also having to cope without the services of Harvey Blair and Marlon Pack due to hamstring and knee injuries respectively.

Summer signing Luke Le Roux is pushing for his first league start after coming off the bench to make his Championship debut in the draw with West Brom.

As for the visitors, they remain without the injured quartet of Brad Potts, Jordan Thompson, Robbie Brady and Will Keane.

Osmajic was forced off within 10 minutes of his introduction to Tuesday's EFL Cup clash against Wrexham, making him a major doubt for the trip to the South coast.

If Osmajic is unable to feature, Daniel Jebbison could be given the opportunity to lead the line after making his debut in midweek.

Portsmouth possible starting lineup:

Schmid; Swanson, Poole, Shaughnessy, Ogilvie; Le Roux, Dozzell; Segecic, Swift, Murphy; Bishop

Preston North End possible starting lineup:

Iversen; Storey, Hughes, Gibson; Valentin, McCann, Whiteman, Devine, Small; Jebbison, Smith

We say: Portsmouth 0-2 Preston North End

Preston will be in a confident mood after dropping just two points in their first three league matches of the season, and we think that they will maintain that record by beating a Portsmouth side that have lost their two competitive home games this term.

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