Pompey travel to Peterborough tomorrow for an early season top-of-the-table clash in League One.
Team News
Ronan Curtis will return to the starting eleven after returning from international duty but Anton Walkes, Dion Donohue and Jack Whatmough are still sidelined. Andre Green is rated doubtful with a knee injury.
Peterborough, on the other hand, are at full strength now that midfielder Callum Cooke has recovered from an ankle injury.
The Match
Whilst this match is easy to hype given that the two current top teams in the division are playing each other, it should be remembered that this is only the eighth game of a 46 game season and the result may not be as important as some would have you believe.
Instead, this match will serve as a good early barometer as just how much both teams have improved after finishing just outside the play-offs last season. Many thought Posh would be slow starters given that Steve Evans built almost an entirely new squad and lost the division's top scorer last season in Jack Marriott but they've hit the ground running.
Matt Godden has proved to be a capable replacement for Marriott having scored six goals already having also bagged a couple against Pompey when playing for Stevenage in League Two, whilst Jason Cummings has proved to be a shrewd loan acquisition from Nottingham Forest.
That pair, along with other attackers such as Marcus Maddison and Ivan Toney (another player who scored against Pompey for Wigan last season) have decimated League One defences and thus Pompey will have to be at their best at the back tomorrow, meaning Christian Burgess can't make his one mistake per game which was costly last week against Shrewsbury.
As usual, Peterborough's weaknesses are at the back as they have conceded seven goals so far this season, whilst Pompey have only conceded four. With Curtis back, Pompey should have that extra edge going forward that they lacked last weekend whilst Oli Hawkins' hard work is certainly due a goal sooner rather than later.
2,500 Pompey fans will be making the journey to London Road tomorrow. Hopefully they'll be rewarded with a quality game of football and, more importantly, the victory that will lay down a marker for the rest of the season.
Predicted Starting Line-Ups
Peterborough
GK: Aaron CHAPMAN
RB: Jason NAISMITH
CB: Ryan TAFAZOLI
CB: Alex WOODYARD
LB: Colin DANIEL
RM: Jason CUMMINGS
CM: Mark O'HARA
CM: Jamie WALKER
LM: Rhys BENNETT
CF: Matt GODDEN
CF: Ivan TONEY
Pompey
GK: Craig MacGILLIVRAY
RB: Nathan THOMPSON
CB: Christian BURGESS
CB: Matt CLARKE
LB: Lee BROWN
CM: Tom NAYLOR
CM: Ben THOMPSON
CM: Gareth EVANS
RWF: Jamal LOWE
LWF: Ronan CURTIS
CF: Oli HAWKINS
Last Time: Peterborough United 2 Portsmouth 1 (League One - 21/11/2017)
After a goalless first half, Jack Marriott gave Posh the opener by bundling in the ball from close range and their lead was doubled when Clarke inadvertently turned Maddison's free kick past Luke McGee. Conor Chaplin got a late goal back but it wasn't enough to prevent defeat.
My Prediction
Peterborough's only dropped points of the season have come at home when Doncaster left with a draw and I think Pompey are capable of getting a result from what should be an excellent advert for League One.
Peterborough United 2 Portsmouth 2