Two in-form sides will face off when Portsmouth welcome Stoke City to Fratton Park for Saturday's Championship encounter. 

Pompey head into the weekend in 10th position in the Championship table, while the Potters are in third spot and a point adrift of automatic promotion. 

Match preview

Portsmouth share the league's current longest unbeaten run with rivals Southampton after winning four and drawing two of their last six matches.

Pompey continued their impressive run of form with a dramatic 3-1 victory over promotion hopefuls Swansea in Tuesday's clash at Fratton Park.

After seeing his opener cancelled out by Zan Vipotnik's 85th-minute penalty, Terry Devlin put his team back in front in the second minute of stoppage time, shortly before Thomas Waddingham netted in a second straight home game to wrap up all three points.

As a result, Pompey, who have battled relegation in the last two seasons, are sitting just one point adrift from the top eight and four points away from automatic promotion, sparking dreams of ending their 16-year wait for Premier League football.

They will go into Saturday's fixture with hopes of recording four consecutive home league wins for the first time since January 2025. 

The fourth win on that occasion came via a 2-1 scoreline against Stoke, which may be a good omen as they look to extend their five-game unbeaten home streak.

Stoke, meanwhile, have lost just one of their last 11 Championship outings, representing a significant improvement from starting the campaign with three consecutive league defeats.

In fact, they have won three of their last four outings since suffering their most recent loss in a home clash against Middlesbrough last month.

The Potters recorded clean sheets in wins against Derby County and Preston North End, either side of a goalless draw against Preston North End.

Mark Robins's side missed out on a fourth consecutive clean sheet in their midweek away clash against Blackburn Rovers, but crucially they left Ewood Park with all three points after claiming a 2-1 victory thanks to a Jack McGlynn effort and an own goal.

That result represented a fourth consecutive win on the road and made it five consecutive away games without defeat since losing to Wolverhampton Wanderers at the end of August.

The Potters enjoyed success on their last trip to Fratton Park in October 2025, when a 70th-minute own goal proved enough to fire them to a 1-0 victory. 

Portsmouth Championship form:

Stoke City Championship form:

Team News

Portsmouth remain without Benjamin Arthur, Connor Ogilvie, Mark Kosznovszky, John Swift, Luke Brooke-Smith, Keshi Anderson and Colby Bishop.

Striker Marko Milovanovic has been ruled out of Saturday’s contest after he pulled up with a quad issue in the second half against Swansea.

Midfielder Ilyas Mohamed was also forced off with a calf issue in Tuesday’s win, and while it is believed to be a minor problem, it is unclear whether he will be ready for the weekend.

As for the Potters, they head to Fratton Park without the injured trio of Eric Bocat, Lamine Cisse and Ato Ampah. 

Aaron Cresswell and Sam Gallagher are on the verge of returning from injury, but it remains to be seen whether they will prove their fitness in time for Saturday’s away trip.

One certainty is that midfielder Ethan Galbraith will return to the fold after serving a one-match ban for an accumulation of yellow cards.

Portsmouth possible starting lineup:

Schmid; Devlin, Poole, Dia, Meghoma; Pack, Adams; Segecic, Bailey, Kavuma-McQueen; Shade

Stoke City possible starting lineup:

Johansson; Wilmot, Lawal, Graham; Johnson, Soumare, Galbraith, Bombino; McGlynn, Devenny, Bozenik

We say: Portsmouth 1-1 Stoke City

Brimming with confidence, Portsmouth and Stoke will both fancy their chances of claiming the spoils this weekend, but with both teams proving tough to beat, we think they could cancel one another out in a score draw. 

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