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Portsmouth
Championship | Gameweek 44
Apr 21, 2025 at 3pm UK
Fratton Park
Watford logo

Portsmouth
1 - 0
Watford

Bishop (25')
Bishop (27'), Aouchiche (44'), Botts (64'), Lang (90+5')
FT(HT: 1-0)

Dwomoh (53'), Louza (67'), (90+8')
Keben (57')

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

Sports Mole previews Monday's Championship clash between Portsmouth and Watford, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Portsmouth could achieve mathematical safety when they welcome Watford to Fratton Park for Monday's Championship encounter.

The hosts will head into the game in 18th place in the Championship table, while the Hornets are in 12th position with three games left to play.


Match preview

Portsmouth's Colby Bishop celebrates with teammates on March 9, 2025© Imago

Portsmouth are on the brink of securing safety after bouncing back from consecutive defeats to take four points from their last two matches.

They came from behind on a couple of occasions to rescue a 2-2 draw against Derby County, before they produced one of their best performances of the season to claim a 5-3 victory in Friday's away meeting with Norwich City.

Colby Bishop scored his first Portsmouth hat-trick, alongside goals from Matt Ritchie and Regan Poole, to secure the club's third Championship away victory of the season.

As a result, Pompey now boast a sizeable six-point gap to the bottom three with just three games left to play against Watford, Sheffield Wednesday and Hull City.

A draw or a win on Monday could secure Pompey's survival if results elsewhere go their way, and they will fancy their chances of claiming maximum points after winning 10 of their previous 15 home league matches (D3, L2).

The South-coast side can also take confidence from the fact that they have won each of their previous four meetings with Watford.

Watford head coach Tom Cleverley on April 12, 2025© Imago

Watford have little to play for in their final three matches after their playoff hopes were ended by a poor run of form that has seen them win just one of their last six games (D1, L4).

In fact, Watford have lost three of their previous four matches, including their last two outings since beating Hull City 1-0 at Vicarage Road.

After losing 2-1 to West Bromwich Albion in their most recent away game, the Hornets fell to the same scoreline in Friday's home clash against promotion-chasing Burnley despite taking the lead through Mamadou Doumbia.

Zian Flemming and Josh Brownhill grabbed a goal apiece to turn the game in Burnley's favour, before Watford's hopes of salvaging a point were extinguished by red cards to both Moussa Sissoko and Edo Kayembe.

Tom Cleverley will be looking for his team to produce a positive response in Monday's fixture, but that will be easier said than done given the fact that they have failed to win any of their last four away matches since they beat Middlesbrough in the middle of February.

Watford are hoping to complete a league double over Portsmouth for the first time since 2001-02 after edging out Portsmouth via a 2-1 scoreline in December's reverse fixture.

Portsmouth Championship form:

Watford Championship form:


Team News

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho on September 21, 2024© Imago

Portsmouth remain without the services of Callum Lang, Paddy Lane, Alexander Milosevic, Ibane Bowat, Hayden Matthews and Jacob Farrell.

Forward Thomas Waddingham is unlikely to be involved after being absent from the last two matchday squads with a hamstring problem.

Conor Shaughnessy is closing in on a return to fitness, but Monday's contest may come too soon for the central defender.

As for the Hornets, Cleverley is still unable to call upon Kwadwo Baah, Giorgi Chakvetadze, Yasser Larouci and Angelo Ogbonna.

Defender Kevin Keben is hoping to make the matchday squad after missing the last nine matches with a muscle injury.

The experienced duo of Sissoko and Kayembe are both suspended following their red cards in Friday's defeat to Burnley.


Portsmouth possible starting lineup:
Schmid; Swanson, Poole, Atkinson, Ogilvie; Potts, Dozzell; Ritchie, Aouchiche, Murphy; Bishop

Watford possible starting lineup:
Selvik; Ngakia, Pollock, Abankwah, Wiley; Dele-Bashiru, Louza, Dwomoh; Ince, Vata, Doumbia


SM words green background

We say: Portsmouth 2-1 Watford

Portsmouth will be full of confidence following Friday's impressive win over Norwich, and we think that they will back up that result by claiming a narrow victory in Monday's contest, especially as they have won 10 of their last 15 home matches.



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




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Written by
Ben Sully

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Game History

How you voted: Portsmouth vs Watford

Portsmouth
82.9%
Draw
7.3%
Watford
9.8%
41
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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Leeds UnitedLeeds452813493296497
2Burnley452716266155197
3Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd452871062352789
4Sunderland4521131158431576
5Bristol City451716125753467
6Coventry CityCoventry45199176258466
7Millwall451812154646066
8Blackburn RoversBlackburn45198185247565
9Middlesbrough4518101764541064
10West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom451419125244861
11Swansea CitySwansea45179194853-560
12Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds451512185968-957
13Watford45168215260-856
14Norwich CityNorwich451315176766154
15Queens Park RangersQPR451314185263-1153
16Portsmouth451411205770-1353
17Oxford UnitedOxford Utd451313194662-1652
18Stoke CityStoke451214194562-1750
19Derby CountyDerby451310224856-849
20Preston North EndPreston451019164657-1149
21Luton TownLuton451310224264-2249
22Hull City451212214353-1048
23Plymouth ArgylePlymouth451113215086-3646
24Cardiff CityCardiff45917194669-2344


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