Portsmouth away looks like the hardest of challenges you will come across in League One this season, but history offers a glimmer of hope for Charlton to come away with three points.

It is still early days, but Portsmouth look destined to end their League One exile and return to the Championship for the first time since 2012. It will be a day of reminiscence for Michael Appleton, who actually managed Pompey during that fateful 2011/12 relegation season (and had Jason Pearce as club captain).

But of course, that's now water under the bridge. This season, John Mousinho’s men have been in impressive form, and are still unbeaten in 15 league games. At Fratton Park, they have won six and drawn two. The only fly in the ointment so far came in the FA Cup a week ago, when a strong Pompey side were defeated by non-leaguers Chesterfield, their first defeat of the season.

Portsmouth should still be confident of continuing their fine start to the season though, against a Charlton side who have so far struggled to find consistency. However, the Addicks faithful will find hope in history: Fratton Park has been a surprisingly happy hunting ground for Charlton in recent years. In fact, the last seven league encounters at Fratton Park have produced seven away wins for the Addicks. That is quite a remarkable run.

With the embarrassing FA Cup display against Cray Valley PM fresh in mind, it is easy to forget the last league match against Wigan, where Charlton played well and recorded their first away win of the season. The performance in that game should give the Addicks faithful around the world and the 2 000 travelling supporters some hope ahead of Saturday's encounter with the league leaders.

What are we to expect from the opposition? Colby Bishop is Portsmouth’s lead goal scorer with nine league goals. The former schoolteacher has been the stand-out player for Pompey this season, and leads the line for a Pompey side in at 4-2-3-1 formation. Portsmouth haven’t been free scoring, though: Their total of 25 league goals so far this season only equals Charlton’s goalscoring tally. However, unlike Charlton, Portsmouth have looked solid in all aspects of the game so far. Charlton will be up against the tightest defence in the league, as Pompey have only conceded 10 goals in 15 league games. Furthermore, Mousinho’s men like to keep possession of the ball. Their average ball possession ratio per game is about 59 per cent this season, which is the highest in the league.  

Having rested most of the regular starters in the FA Cup on Sunday, Michael Appleton would probably be tempted to name the same starting eleven that won at Wigan. However, a forced change must be made because of Panatche Camara’s injury. Scott Fraser looks like the most likely replacement, but Appleton could also give Tyreece Campbell the nod.

Left-back Tayo Edun is probably also available for selection after injury. Appleton could therefore be tempted to give youngster Nathan Asiimwe a rest and move Tennai Watson to the right back position. Asiimwe provides some attacking threat, but looks unconvincing from a defensive point of view. I suspect Appleton considers Edun/T. Watson to be a safer choice for this game. Appleton will probably want Miles Leaburn’s strength up front in this game, so Alfie May will operate in a deeper role.

The squad players didn’t do themselves any favours in the FA Cup, but I expect Chem Campbell and Keroy Anderson to return to the matchday squad, and join the likes of Tyreece Campbell, Terell Thomas, Lucas Ness, Slobodan Tedic and Sam Walker on the bench.

Match prediction: Pompey 1 - Charlton 1 (Blackett-Taylor)
 

Artikeln skriven av Jørgen Sørbø, 2023-09-11, 13:57