Match Preview: Portsmouth v Oxford United (Saturday, 3pm)

Portsmouth face Oxford United on Saturday seeking to protect their formidable unbeaten run in League One.

Pompey are unbeaten in eight, with six wins and two draws, ahead of the 3pm kick-off.

They face an Oxford team who have won one and drawn five over the same number of games.

Portsmouth are top of the table after 35 games, of which they have won 21 and drawn 10, earning 73 points.

Oxford are six places behind Pompey in seventh, with 16 wins and nine draws putting them on 57 points.

With Will Norris between the sticks, the home team can rely on one of the league’s safest pair of hands. He has kept 16 clean sheets in his 35 appearances this season, and no ‘keeper has prevented the opposition scoring more often in League One.

In United’s net, James Beadle has seven clean sheets in 25 games. He has conceded a goal every 90 minutes, 30% more often than the 117 minutes between goals for Norris.

With 58 goals in 35 games so far this season, Portsmouth are scoring more than average in the league with 1.7 goals per game. And they are conceding fewer than average, letting in 30 goals at a rate of 0.9 per game.

The Us are also above average scorers, with 1.6 goals per game, compared to a league average of 1.3. They have conceded 1.3 goals per game.

In the last 10 years, Portsmouth and Oxford have played each other on 17 occasions. They won four each, and they drew nine times.

On average, Pompey scored 1.5 goals and the Us 1.4 in those matches.

Their last meeting was on January 30, when they played out a 2-2 draw.

Portsmouth’s last match was on February 24, a 0-0 draw against Charlton Athletic.

Oxford lost 2-1 against Leyton Orient last time out, also on February 24, with Tyler Goodrham on the scoresheet.

Saturday’s match will be refereed by Ben Toner, who has taken charge of 10 League One games so far this season, issuing no red cards and booking 54 players. He has awarded one penalty.

The last Portsmouth game Toner refereed was a 0-0 home draw with Cheltenham Town on August 19. His last Oxford match was their 2-1 win away at Derby County on August 15.

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Portsmouth v Oxford United
League One | Fratton Park
Saturday, 2 March 2024 @ 3.00pm

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