One of two New Year’s Day games involving top six sides in League One takes place at Fratton Park as Portsmouth face Stevenage.
Portsmouth currently sit top of League One with fourteen wins, eight draws and two losses from twenty-four games this season.
Pompey are having an excellent campaign and look to be exceeding preseason expectations given few expected them to be top of the league table at Christmas.
They are, though, wobbling slightly in terms of form as they come into this game winless in their last three games in the league.
A 1-1 draw at home to Fleetwood Town was followed up by a 2-1 loss at Bristol Rovers followed by a 0-0 draw against Exeter City in their most recent game.
The worrying thing about that run is that two of those results came against sides currently in the bottom five places in the league, so they’re now in a position where they have to beat a promotion contender in order to get back to winning ways.
Their form at home has been pretty questionable of late too, with Pompey having won just one of their last four league games on home soil.
They’re in real danger of falling into a four-match losing streak here if they don’t deliver one of their better performances. There’s no reason why they can’t be at their best here, but their recent results offer plenty of cause for scepticism.
Stevenage currently sit 5th in League One with twelve wins, seven draws and five losses from twenty-four games.
Stevenage are having a fantastic season following promotion from League Two last time out and are exceeding expectations more than any other side in the league.
They were really pushing the automatic promotion spots a few weeks back and while their form has dropped off slightly, they’re still looking pretty strong.
They’re coming into this game having won two, drawn two and lost one of their last five games, with that defeat their only loss in their last eleven league games.
Their latest game was an impressive 3-0 win over Northampton Town, with goals from Jamie Reid, Jordan Roberts and Elliott List enough to earn an emphatic win.
Their form away from home has been good too of late, with Steve Evans’s side having won three and lost one of their last four games on the road.
Stevenage could do with a signature win to try and reassert themselves as contenders for a top-two finish and given Portsmouth’s form they’ll see this as an ideal opportunity.
It won’t come easy, but a result is very much on the cards here.
For our Portsmouth vs. Stevenage prediction, we’re going for a 2-2 draw.
Don’t forget to check out the rest of our previews, tips and offers for this weekend’s action.