Hull City will attempt to escape the Championship drop zone on the final day of the season when they travel to Fratton Park for Saturday’s meeting with Portsmouth.
The Tigers are languishing in 22nd place and one point adrift of safety, while Pompey are safe from the drop in 16th position.
Match preview
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Portsmouth know they will be playing in the Championship next season after securing safety with a couple of victories over Easter weekend.
Pompey produced a free-scoring display to claim an impressive 5-3 away victory against Norwich City, before they edged out Watford via a narrow 1-0 scoreline to preserve their Championship status with two games left to play.
John Mousinho‘s side were unable to record a third consecutive victory in last Saturday’s away clash against Sheffield Wednesday, but they did at least extend their unbeaten run to four matches with a 1-1 draw.
Harvey Blair netted his first goal for the club to cancel out Callum Paterson‘s early opener, helping Portsmouth pick up a point that leaves them in 16th position with 53 points from 45 matches.
Pompey will fancy their chances of taking something from their final game of the season, having lost just two of their previous 16 home matches (W11, D3).
However, they have lost two of their previous three home meetings with Hull, including a heavy 4-0 defeat when the two teams last faced off at Fratton Park in a League One clash in January 2021.
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Hull’s four-season stay in the Championship could come to an end after they dropped into the drop zone following last Saturday’s home defeat against relegation rivals Derby County.
Nat Phillips scored an 84th-minute winner to condemn the Tigers to a narrow 1-0 home defeat, representing their third loss in the last five matches.
As a result, Ruben Selles‘s side are sitting one point adrift of Luton Town, Preston North End and Derby, while they are two points away from Stoke City in the battle to avoid the drop to League One.
Despite their perilous position, Hull still have their destiny in their own hands because a win at Fratton Park would allow them to climb out of the bottom three, although a draw will only be enough if Luton or Preston lose due to their goal difference advantage over those two sides.
Overall, Hull have fared reasonably well on their travels this season, winning seven, drawing four and losing 11 of their 22 away league matches, with only six teams bettering their 25-point tally on the road this season.
However, they have found wins hard to come by in their recent road trips, having won just one of their previous six away matches (D2, L3), including 1-0 defeats to Watford and Swansea City in their last two away games.
Team News
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Portsmouth remain without the services of Ibane Bowat, Hayden Matthews, Alexander Milosevic, Jordan Williams, Jacob Farrell, Paddy Lane and Thomas Waddingham.
Sunderland loanee Adil Aouchiche will miss a second straight game with a wrist injury, while Zak Swanson is a doubt after being absent from the last two matchday squads due to a minor issue.
First-choice Nicolas Schmid should return to the starting lineup after winter addition Ben Killip was given the chance to make his debut in last Saturday’s clash with Sheffield Wednesday.
As for the visitors, they will head into the final game of the season without Eliot Matazo, Louie Barry, Liam Millar, Mohamed Belloumi, Dogukan Sinik and Oscar Zambrano.
Selles has confirmed that midfielder Regan Slater will miss the away trip after he sustained an ankle injury in the defeat to Derby.
Steven Alzate is set to replace Slater in the middle of the park, while Joao Pedro could come into the side to lead the line at Fratton Park.
Portsmouth possible starting lineup:
Schmid; Devlin, Shaughnessy, Atkinson, Ogilvie; Potts, Hayden; Ritchie, Dozzell, Murphy; Bishop
Hull City possible starting lineup:
Pandur; Coyle, Egan, Hughes, McLoughlin; Puerta, Alzate; Kamara, Gelhardt, Joseph; Pedro
We say: Portsmouth 1-1 Hull City
With Portsmouth already safe, Hull have the bigger incentive to go for the win in Saturday’s fixture, but with that said, we think the visitors will be held to a point against a Pompey side that have proven to be a tough team to beat at Fratton Park.
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