Whaddon Road hosts Cheltenham Town and Portsmouth this Saturday to continue the New Year’s football. Cheltenham are fighting for survival in the relegation zone whereas Portsmouth sit top of League One coming into 2024.
Cheltenham currently sit 23rd in League One after 24 games. The Robins have five wins, five draws and 14 losses, leaving them on 20 points, equal with Carlisle and only three points from safety.
In their last five games in all competitions, Cheltenham have two wins, one draw and one loss.
Ben Williams was sent off early on in some of the only action in the first half against Leyton Orient. Despite this, a penalty from Will Goodwin gave Cheltenham the lead. However, late goals from Shaq Forde and Ethan Galbraith gave Leyton Orient the 2 - 1 win. Cheltenham bounced back next time out against fellow relegation candidate Carlisle. Liam Sercombe scored the only goal of the game in the first half to give Cheltenham the 1 - 0 win.
Cheltenham backed this up with another win, this time against Shrewsbury Town. George Lloyd grabbed a goal in each half to give Cheltenham the 2 - 0 win, restricting Shrewsbury to no shots on target. All four goals in the game against Reading came in the first half. Sercombe put Cheltenham in the lead and an own goal from David Button doubled the lead, but goals from Jeriel Dorsett and Paul Mukairu meant it was 2 - 2 at halftime. Neither team found the back of the net again and had to settle for the draw.
The last time out for Cheltenham was against Northampton Town. A Kieron Bowie penalty was the only goal of the game as Nortampton took home a 1 - 0 win.
Portsmouth, on the other hand, sit top of League One. In 24 games, Portsmouth have 15 wins, eight draws and just two losses which leaves them on 53 points, two points ahead of Bolton and four points ahead of Peterborough.
In their last five games in all competitions, Portsmouth have one win, two draws and two losses.
In the Football League Trophy Second round, Portsmouth hosted Wimbledon. Kusini Yengi and Gavin Whyte did score for Portsmouth, but goals from Aron Sasu, Josh Davison, Alex Pearce, Harry Pell and Ali Al-Hamadi gave Wimbledon the 5 - 2 win. Colby Bishop’s penalty in the added time of the first half gave Portsmouth the lead at halftime, but a goal from Josh Earl in the second half meant the game ended 1 - 1, with Portsmouth having only two shots on target.
A shock loss in League One came against Bristol Rovers. Antony Evans opened the scoring in the 66th minute but Paddy Lane equalised within ten minutes. However, Luke Thomas popped up with a goal in the 94th minute to give Rovers the 2 - 1 win. The next time out was another shock result for Portsmouth. With just two shots on target, Portsmouth couldn’t find the back of the net and played out a goalless draw with Exeter City.
The most recent outing for Portsmouth was against ten-man Stevenage. Lane gave Portsmouth the early lead but Louis Thompson equalised. Bishop regained the lead before halftime, a 2 - 1 lead they converted into a 2 - 1 win, with Nathan Thompson sent off late on for Stevenage.
Cheltenham and Portsmouth have met 12 times in their histories, with the first meeting coming back in 2013. Portsmouth have the better record in the fixture with four wins in comparison to Cheltenham’s one win, with a draw the most common outcome of the fixture with seven draws so far.