In the continuing raft of midweek Championship football, Portsmouth are looking to back up their weekend win at home to Middlesbrough against Stoke City tonight.
In a match disrupted by a medical emergency, John Mousinho’s blues produced a Matt Ritchie inspired comeback to win 2-1 and further enhance their survival credentials.
They now sit on the cusp of safety, only in the relegation zone due to a two goal discrepancy in their goal difference when compared to Hull – but with two games in hand on the Yorkshire side.
The Potters aren’t faring much better, sat just two points ahead of Pompey in 18th.
A win tonight for Portsmouth would see them leapfrog their opponents, who make the 200 mile journey down to Hampshire tonight.
Stoke are onto their third manager of the season, having parted company with both Steven Schumacher, and more recently Narcis Pelach, with sporting director Jon Walters saying that Pelach wasn’t the ‘right fit’ for the club in the statement confirming his departure.
The new man at the helm is Mark Robins, who is unbeaten in his first three games in charge, drawing both of his matches in the EFL Championship, and getting his sole win against Sunderland in the 3rd round of the FA Cup.
Portsmouth have, despite their worse league position, outscored tonight’s opponents over the course of the campaign so far, notching 32 goals in the league compared to Stoke’s 25.
Both sides also reached the FA Cup final at the turn of the decade in 2010 – both suffering 0-1 defeats in the final, with Portsmouth’s coming at the hands of Chelsea, and Stoke’s to Manchester City.
The sides have met 45 times over the course of their respective histories, with Portsmouth boasting a record of 21 wins to Stoke’s 16.
That record has been bridged in recent times, however, with their last three league meetings going the way of the Potters, including a 6-1 win in their most recent encounter, which saw blues goalkeeper Will Norris lose his spot as number one goalkeeper.
The match kicks off at 19:45 tonight, and is live on Sky Sports +.
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