Portsmouth and Luton Town will both be targeting their first wins of the 2024-25 season when they face off in Saturday's clash at Fratton Park.
Pompey began their Championship campaign with a 3-3 draw against Leeds United, while Luton fell to a heavy 4-1 defeat in their home meeting with Burnley.
Match preview
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After spending 12 years in League One and Two, Pompey marked their return to the Championship with an entertaining 3-3 draw against Leeds at Elland Road.
Last season's League One champions thought that they had snatched all three points through Callum Lang's 92nd-minute penalty, only to see Brenden Aaronson net a late equaliser to ensure that the spoils were shared.
Pompey would have still been content with a hard-earned point, but they would have been disappointed to fall to a narrow defeat in Tuesday's home clash against Millwall in the EFL Cup first round.
Millwall's Romain Esse netted the game's only goal of the game to condemn Portsmouth to a first-round exit for the first time since losing to the same opponent in August 2021.
With Portsmouth targeting all three points, they may be able to take confidence from the fact that they have won both of their last two home games against Luton, including a 1-0 victory in their most recent home meeting in August 2018.
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After suffering relegation from the Premier League last season, Luton's promotion bid got off to a disappointing start as they fell to a 4-1 defeat in Monday's clash with Burnley.
Tahith Chong found the net in the 55th minute to halve the deficit after the Clarets had established a two-goal lead, before Burnley reasserted their authority with two more goals to condemn the Hatters to a heavy home defeat.
Rob Edwards's side will now head on their travels for their first away game of the season, and they will be looking to claim their first competitive away win since beating Everton 2-1 in January's FA Cup tie.
Luton's hopes of clinching all three points may be tempered by the fact that they have failed to win any of their last nine competitive away meetings with Portsmouth (D1, L8).
As a result of that poor record, the Hatters will travel to Fratton Park with the aim of recording an away win over Portsmouth for the first time since September 1975.
Team News
![Portsmouth manager John Mousinho pictured in April 2024 [IMAGO]](https://sm.imgix.net/24/25/john-mousinho.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip "Portsmouth manager John Mousinho pictured in April 2024 [IMAGO]")
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Portsmouth are still unable to call upon the injured Jacob Farrell and Jacob Murphy, who are a couple of weeks away from returning to action.
Defender Regan Poole and forward Colby Bishop remain sidelined, while Kusini Yengi is a doubt after missing the two games against Luton and Millwall with a groin injury.
Conor Shaughnessy, Marlon Pack, Andre Dozzell, Elias Sorensen and Lang could all be recalled, while Matt Richie may be presented with his first starting since returning to the club.
As for the visitors, they shared the positive news that captain Tom Lockyer has returned to the club's training ground to work individually as he steps up his rehabilitation after suffering a cardiac arrest in a Premier League game against Bournemouth in December.
In addition to Lockyer, the Hatters could be without the services of Marvelous Nakamba, Reece Burke, Mads Andersen, Jacob Brown, Daiki Hashioka, Tim Krul and Jordan Clark.
After conceding four goals on Monday, Edwards could be tempted to make a change to his backline, with Tom Holmes among those who could be considered for a starting berth.
Portsmouth possible starting lineup:
Norris; Williams, Shaughnessy, Towler, Ogilvie; Pack, Dozzell; Richie, Lang, Silvera; Sorensen
Luton Town possible starting lineup:
Kaminski; Holmes, Mengi, Johnson; Ogbene, Baptiste, Nelson, Doughty; Chong; Morris, Adebayo
We say: Portsmouth 2-2 Luton Town
Luton will be keen to produce a positive response after their disappointing start to the new season, but having failed to win any of their last nine away games against Portsmouth, we think that the visitors may have to settle for a share of the spoils on Saturday.
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