Fratton Park hosts Portsmouth and Northampton Town this Saturday in league One. Portsmouth will be looking to extend their lead at the top of the table whereas Northampton will be aiming to reel the Play-offs back in.
Portsmouth currently sit top of League One after 30 games. Pompey have 17 wins, nine draws and four losses, leaving them on 60 points, just three points above Bolton and four points above Peterborough.
In their last five games in all competitions, Portsmouth have two wins, one draw and two losses.
A Tom Bradbury own goal gave Portsmouth the lead over Cheltenham just minutes into the second half. However, just minutes later Liam Sercombe scored a quickfire double to grab the shock 2 - 1 win for Cheltenham over Portsmouth. The next time out was another loss for Portsmouth. All three of Leyton Orient’s goals came in the first half, with Shaq Forde, Jordan Brown and Dan Agyei all scoring in the 3 - 0 win for Orient.
Portsmouth bounced back against a struggling Fleetwood. Abu Kamara scored the only goal of the game in the first half for a 1 - 0 win over Fleetwood, where they could only manage three shots on goal. It was another 1 - 0 win for Portsmouth the next time out, this time against Port Vale. Colby Bishop converted a penalty in the 88th minute to grab all three points for Portsmouth.
The last time out for Portsmouth was against Oxford United on Tuesday. Tyler Goodrham opened the scoring but Bishop and Callum Lang gave Pompey the lead. However, a last minute goal from James Henry grabbed a 2 - 2 draw for Oxford.
Northampton Town, on the other hand, currently sit ninth in League One. In 28 games, Northampton have 12 wins, four draws and 12 losses which leaves them on 40 points, nine points from Stevenage in the last Play-off spot.
In their last five games in all competitions, Northampton Town have three wins, one draw and one loss.
Jon Guthrie’s goal in the 30th minute gave Northampton the 1 - 0 lead over Lincoln at halftime. Kieron Bowie then doubled Northampton’s lead, but minutes later Timothy Eyoma got Lincoln on the scoresheet. However, following the red card to Lincoln’s Paudie O’Connor, Northampton held on for the 2 - 1 win. A Bowie penalty in the later stages of the second half gave Northampton the 1 - 0 win over Cheltenham.
Another penalty got Northampton on the scoresheet again, this time against Wigan, with Sam Hoskins giving Northampton the early lead. However, Josh Magennis grabbed a goal in the second half to force a 1 - 1 draw. There were four goals in the first half in the clash against Charlton. Tyreece Simpson and Hoskins were on the scoresheet for Northampton, but an own goal from Aaron Joseph McGowan and a goal from Tennai Watson levelled it at 2 - 2 at halftime. However, with Charlton’s Tayo Edun being sent off in the 86th minute, Louis George Appere grabbed a 97th minute goal to give Northampton the 3 - 2 win.
The most recent outing for Northampton was against Shrewsbury. Daniel Udoh and Chey Dunkley both scored in the second half to give Shrewsbury the 2 - 0 win.
Portsmouth and Northampton Town have met 39 times in their histories, with the first meeting coming back in 1920. Pompey have the better record in the fixture with 21 wins in comparison to Northampton Town’s 11 wins, with the other seven games ending in a draw.
