Portsmouth vs Bristol City

Fratton Park plays host to an all-English pre-season match-up between Portsmouth and Bristol City.

Portsmouth’s advanced pre-season campaign has been anything but exciting, with four of their five summer friendlies featuring under 2.5 total goals. The ‘Pompey’ massively struggled in front of goal during that five-match stretch, netting one goal or fewer on four occasions. Despite an obvious lack of goals, John Mousinho’s men have fared reasonably well after a disappointing 2022/23 League One, going unbeaten in four straight exhibition matches (W3, D1) before a 1-0 defeat at the hands of AFC Wimbledon last time out. The upcoming meeting with Bristol will unlikely improve Portsmouth’s bid to rekindle their attacking game, as they’ve drawn a blank in four of their last six H2Hs.

As for Bristol City, a dramatic 1-1 draw against Cheltenham last time out ended their impeccable pre-season start. The ‘Robins’ had won their opening four summer friendlies by an aggregate score of 23-1, netting 4+ goals in each victory. Delivering action from the get-go, Nigel Pearson’s men opened the scoring within an opening half hour in all four wins, bagging 2+ first-half goals on three occasions. Bristol’s outrageous summer form underscores their status as pre-match favorites, not to mention they’ve emerged victorious in two of their last three encounters against Portsmouth (D1), scoring multiple goals in both wins.