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

Watford will be looking to claim consecutive victories when they travel to Fratton Park for Wednesday’s Championship meeting with Portsmouth.

The Hornets will head into the midweek round of fixtures in 16th position, while Portsmouth are just one place behind on goal difference.

Match preview

Portsmouth made a promising start to the Championship season, winning two, drawing one and losing just one of their opening four matches.

However, they have experienced a drop-off since beating Preston 1-0 at the end of August, having taken just one point from their previous three outings.

They would have been satisfied with a goalless away draw against local rivals Southampton, but rather than build upon that result, they slumped to consecutive defeats against Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town.

Marlon Pack’s stoppage-time effort arrived too late in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Ipswich Town, which brought an end to Pompey’s five-game unbeaten run on the road (W2, D3).

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho will be aware that this team need to improve in the final third, after failing to score more than one goal in any of their eight competitive matches this season.

Mousinho will also want to see his side make a fast start on Wednesday, considering that they are yet to score in the opening 30 minutes of a Championship game this term.

Paulo Pezzolano has not found life easy in his first job in English football, having seen his opening seven games as Watford boss produce two wins, two draws and three defeats.

With that said, the former Real Valladolid boss should be in a positive mood after seeing his side end a four-game winless run in Saturday’s home clash with Hull City.

Imran Louza found the net on the hour mark to cancel out Oli McBurnie’s opener, before Vivaldo Semedo netted his first Watford goal to seal a precious 2-1 victory at Vicarage Road.

The Hornets will be desperate to build upon that result in Wednesday’s road trip, but claiming another victory will be easier said than done, having gone nine away league games without a win since beating Middlesbrough in February.

That winless run includes a narrow 1-0 defeat in April’s trip to Fratton Park, which represented the ninth consecutive time that the home team on the day has prevailed in this fixture.

As a result, the Hornets have not beaten Portsmouth in an away game since clinching a narrow 1-0 victory in April 2002.

Portsmouth Championship form:

L D W D L L

Watford Championship form:

W D D L L W

Team News

The hosts remain without the services of Nicolas Schmid, Conor Shaughnessy, Callum Lang, Franco Umeh and Thomas Waddingham.

Ipswich loanee Conor Chaplin is set to return to the starting lineup after being ineligible to face his parent club at the weekend.

Pompey talisman Josh Murphy has missed the last two matches with an ankle injury, and it remains to be seen whether he will recover in time to start against the Hornets on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Watford remain without the injured duo of Jack Grieves and Giorgi Chakvetadze, while it remains to be seen whether Pierre Dwomoh will be ready for a return to action.

Goalkeeper Egil Selvik is also a doubt after he sat out Saturday’s win due to concussion protocol, and Nathan Baxter will keep his place if the first-choice shot-stopper fails to recover in time for Wednesday’s fixture.

Kwadwo Baah picked up an injury in his late substitute appearance at the weekend, and he is now at risk of missing the trip to Fratton Park.

Portsmouth possible starting lineup:

Bursik; Swanson, Knight, Poole, Ogilvie; Le Roux, Dozzell; Segecic, Chaplin, Yang; Bishop

Watford possible starting lineup:

Baxter, Alleyne, Keben, Pollock; Petris, Louza, Mendy, Kayembe, Ngakia; Semedo, Irankunda

We say: Portsmouth 1-1 Watford

The home team on the day has won the last eight league meetings between the two sides, but we think that the run could come to an end in Wednesday's clash, especially as Pompey have struggled for wins with just one victory in their last seven competitive matches.

However, rather than claiming maximum points, we think that Watford will have to settle for a share of the spoils, taking into account the fact that they have not won a Championship away game since February.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.