Plymouth vs Portsmouth Preview

Last updated : 13 April 2018 By Jim Bonner

The latest chapter of the Portsmouth and Plymouth rivalry will unravel at Home Park tomorrow with an important three points up for grabs.

Team News

Anton Walkes has been ruled out with a hamstring injury but there are no other new injury concerns for Kenny Jackett.

Plymouth keeper Remi Mathews could miss tomorrow's match as he has just become a father but Lionel Ainsworth, Simon Church and Antoni Sarcevic will all miss out because of injury. Ryan Taylor and Sonny Bradley are expected to start against their former club.

The Match

The reverse fixture at Fratton Park earlier this season saw Pompey win an awful game of football to dump woeful Plymouth to the bottom of the table. The more ambitious fans were already looking forward to relegating Argyle after winning tomorrow's match but nobody could have expected Plymouth to go on such a superb run since that loss.

Just two defeats in twenty games, including eleven wins from twelve at Home Park have seen Plymouth leap Pompey in the table and they also have a game in hand on the Blues ahead of what will be an intriguing encounter at Home Park.

Last weekend's draw at Rochdale proved that Pompey have plenty of character but the defending which has been rock solid in recent weeks was nowhere to be seen at Spotland and should Kenny Jackett's men reproduce that kind of performance then they'll surely lose tomorrow as the likes of Graham Carey will have a field day.

However, they do have March's PFA player of the month in their ranks in Brett Pitman who has bagged an impressive seven goals in five games and he has forged a strong partership with Jamal Lowe who could give Plymouth's brittle left side a torrid time with his pace. It's about time we saw a bit more from the other wing so it's up to Kal Naismith to up his game tomorrow.

Stuart O'Keefe should slot in as a replacement for Walkes but otherwise expect the same team which has taken thirteen points from the last fifteen available. A win would be great and a draw wouldn't be the worst result tomorrow but it's hardly ideal, either due to Charlton playing Scunthorpe. Losing would probably mean Pompey would have to win all of their remaining games to be in with a chance of the play-offs.

It should be an entertaining game as Plymouth play some open football and Pompey have been excellent on the counter-attack since they began this winning run. The travelling fans will certainly have fun reminding Plymouth who won League Two last season but let's hope they'll have even more to gloat about when the final whistle goes tomorrow.

Predicted Starting Line-Ups

Plymouth

GK: Remi MATHEWS

RB: Oscar THRELKELD

CB: Zak VYNER

CB: Sonny BRADLEY

LB: Gary SAWYER

CM: David FOX

CM: Moses MAKASI

CM: Jamie NESS

RWF: Graham CAREY

LWF: Ruben LAMEIRAS

CF: Ryan TAYLOR

Pompey

GK: Luke McGEE

RB: Nathan THOMPSON

CB: Jack WHATMOUGH

CB: Matt CLARKE

LB: Dion DONOHUE

DM: Stuart O'KEEFE

RM: Jamal LOWE

CM: Gareth EVANS

CM: Ben CLOSE

LM: Kal NAISMITH

CF: Brett PITMAN

Last Time: Plymouth Argyle 2 Portsmouth 2 (League Two - 15/10/2016)

Yann Songo'o headed in the opener for Argyle but Pompey hit back when Kyle Bennett lashed in an equaliser before the break. It looked like Danny Rose had won it for Paul Cook's men with a late volley which crashed under the crossbar but Connor Smith equalised in stoppage time to deny the Blues victory.

My Prediction

Much of Plymouth's play goes through Taylor so if the centre backs can keep him quiet, Pompey have enough firepower up the other end to do some damage. However, this game looks like it will have goals at both ends and probably a late one to boot.

Plymouth Argyle 2 Portsmouth 2