Preview: West Ham United vs Portsmouth - prediction, team news, lineups

Recently relegated West Ham United will face fellow Championship side Portsmouth in Saturday's EFL Cup clash at the London Stadium.

The Round One tie represents the first meeting between the two sides since the Hammers completed a league double over Pompey in the 2011-12 Championship season.

Match preview

West Ham are set to compete in the Championship for the first time in 14 years after falling short in their Premier League survival fight last season.

The Hammers finished in 18th spot with 39 points to their name, leaving them two points adrift of 17th-placed Tottenham Hotspur.

West Ham have kept faith with manager Nuno Espirito Santo, who has seen midfielder Mateus Fernandes and attacker Crysencio Summerville complete big-money moves away from the club.

Crucially, the Hammers have managed to keep hold of their captain Jarrod Bowen, as well as converting Keiber Lamadrid's loan move into a permanent transfer and recruiting Joel Veltman from Brighton & Hove Albion.

West Ham have warmed up for the new campaign with a five-game unbeaten run in pre-season (W2, D3), including a goalless draw against 2.Bundesliga side FC Magdeburg in their final friendly.

While they have not faced Pompey for some time, they can still take inspiration from the fact they have avoided defeat in each of their last six head-to-head meetings.

Portsmouth are looking forward to a third successive season in the Championship after securing survival via an 18th-placed finish.

Pompey have bolstered their ranks in a bid to build a squad that can compete higher up the table, having recruited Odin Bailey, Rocco Shein, Eion Kenny, Luke Brooke-Smith, Marko Milovanovic and Daniel Bielica.

They are also looking to secure a loan deal for Chelsea youngster Kavuma-McQueen and a permanent transfer for Hull City winger Abu Kamara, who previously impressed on loan in Portsmouth's 2023-24 League One title-winning campaign.

On the pitch, Pompey have experienced mixed results in pre-season, seeing their seven friendlies produce two wins, three draws and two defeats.

Portsmouth wrapped up their pre-season schedule with a goalless draw against Darmstadt in Germany and a 2-0 win over Kuwait SC in Wednesday's behind-closed-doors clash at the club's training ground.

They will now be focusing all their efforts on avoiding a third consecutive first-round exit after losing to Millwall and Reading at this stage in the past two editions of the EFL Cup.

West Ham United form (all competitions):

W D W D D

Portsmouth form (all competitions):

L D L D D W

Team News

West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek remains sidelined with an ankle problem he suffered at the World Cup.

Lamadrid is expected to be out for two to three weeks after sustaining an injury in the recent friendly against Magdeburg.

Veltman could feature in the matchday squad following his recent arrival from Brighton & Hove Albion.

As for the visitors, they are unable to call upon Josef Bursik, Conor Ogilvie, Jacob Farrell, Marlon Pack, Mark Kosznovszky, Harvey Blair and Josh Murphy due to injury.

Winger Franco Umeh may need to be assessed after being withdrawn as a precaution on his return from a groin injury in Wednesday's behind-closed-doors game against Kuwait SC.

Colby Bishop is expected to get the nod over Milovanovic, who still needs time to build up his match fitness.

West Ham United possible starting lineup:

Hermansen; Walker-Peters, Mavropanos, Kilman, Scarles; Kante, Orford; Bowen, Pablo, Cornet; Taty

Portsmouth possible starting lineup:

Schmid; Devlin, Poole, Shaughnessy, Swanson; Adams, Shein; Segecic, Bailey, Kenny; Bishop

We say: West Ham United 2-1 Portsmouth

West Ham will enter the contest as favourites, and with Espirito Santo able to call upon the likes of Bowen and Taty Castellanos, we think the hosts will have the firepower required to see off Portsmouth on Saturday.

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