Match Preview: Portsmouth v Shrewsbury Town (Saturday, 2pm)

Portsmouth face Shrewsbury Town on Saturday seeking to protect their formidable unbeaten run in League One.

Pompey are unbeaten in 14, with 10 wins and four draws, ahead of the 3pm kick-off.

They face a Shrewsbury team who have won four and drawn four over the same number of games.

Portsmouth are top of the table after 41 games, of which they have won 25 and drawn 12, earning 87 points.

Shrewsbury are 17 places behind Pompey in 18th, with 13 wins and seven draws putting them on 46 points.

With Will Norris between the sticks, the home side can rely on one of the league’s safest pair of hands. He has kept 18 clean sheets in his 41 appearances this season, and no ‘keeper has prevented the opposition scoring more often in League One.

In Town’s net, Marko Maroši has 10 clean sheets in 38 games. He has conceded a goal every 79 minutes, 50% more often than the 115 minutes between goals for Norris.

With 30 goals in 41 games so far this season, the Shrews are the league’s lowest scorers with 0.7 goals per game. And they are conceding more than average, letting in 56 goals at a rate of 1.4 per game.

Portsmouth, meanwhile, are above average scorers, with 1.7 goals per game, compared to a league average of 1.3. They have conceded 0.9 goals per game.

In the last 10 years, Portsmouth and Shrewsbury have played each other on 13 occasions. Portsmouth won six of them, Shrewsbury three, and they drew four times.

On average, Pompey scored 1.2 goals and the Shrews 0.7 in those matches.

Their last meeting was on December 16, when Portsmouth won 3-0 away.

Portsmouth’s last match was on Tuesday, a 2-2 draw against Derby County, with Abu Kamara getting the goals for Pompey.

Shrewsbury drew 0-0 with Bristol Rovers last time out, on Monday.

Saturday’s match will be refereed by Charles Breakspear, who has taken charge of 16 League One games so far this season, issuing six red cards and booking 88 players. He has awarded seven penalties.

The last Portsmouth game Breakspear refereed was a 2-1 home win against Stevenage on January 1. His last Shrewsbury match was their 3-0 loss away at Oxford United on October 3.

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Portsmouth v Shrewsbury Town
League One | Fratton Park
Saturday, 6 April 2024 @ 3.00pm

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