Portsmouth vs Cardiff City - prediction, team news, lineups

By Ben Sully | 04 Sep 2026 00:14, Last updated: 04 Sep 2026 00:17

Portsmouth volition beryllium looking to grounds their archetypal location triumph of the play erstwhile they instrumentality connected Cardiff City successful Saturday's Championship clash. 

Meanwhile, the Bluebirds are inactive searching for their archetypal triumph of the 2026-27 Championship campaign. 

Match preview

Portsmouth person made a sluggish commencement to a 3rd consecutive Championship season, having mislaid 3 of their opening 4 league games.

John Mousinho's broadside started retired with a 3-1 location decision against Queens Park Rangers earlier they came connected the close broadside of the aforesaid scoreline successful their distant clash with Lincoln City.

Unfortunately for Portsmouth, immoderate assurance built by that triumph has been dented by back-to-back defeats against Bristol City and Derby County.

Tuesday's 2-0 location nonaccomplishment against the Rams extended Pompey's winless head-to-head tally to 13 matches and leaves them searching for their archetypal location points of the campaign.

With conscionable 3 points to their name, Pompey are languishing successful 21st place and conscionable extracurricular the driblet portion connected extremity difference.

Portsmouth are looking to assertion a 2nd consecutive triumph successful meetings with Cardiff City aft prevailing by 2-1 successful the astir caller brushwood astatine Fratton Park successful February 2025.

Newly-promoted Cardiff are level connected points with Portsmouth aft drafting 3 and losing 1 of their archetypal 4 Championship matches.

Brian Barry-Murphy's charges netted precocious successful a 1-1 gully against Wrexham earlier they played retired 2-2 scorelines against Derby County and Sheffield United.

Unfortunately for Cardiff, their unbeaten commencement to the play was ended by a constrictive 2-1 nonaccomplishment to Queens Park Rangers successful Wednesday's clash astatine Loftus Road. 

Perry Ng struck successful the 75th infinitesimal to halve QPR's advantage, but Cardiff failed successful their quest to find a precocious leveller, falling to a decision that extended their wide winless tally to 5 competitory games since beating Swindon Town successful the EFL Cup archetypal round.

Cardiff person won six of their past 8 competitory matches against Portsmouth, though 5 of those victories took spot connected location turf.

Their past triumph astatine Fratton Park took spot successful August 2010 erstwhile an ain extremity and a Jay Bothroyd effort fired the Bluebirds to a 2-0 triumph successful a crippled that saw Marlon Pack marque his league debut for Portsmouth, earlier aboriginal going connected to marque 109 appearances for Cardiff betwixt 2019 and 2022.

Portsmouth Championship form:

Portsmouth signifier (all competitions):

Cardiff City Championship form:

Cardiff City signifier (all competitions):

Team News

Portsmouth winger Josh Murphy is acceptable for a further eight-week lack aft the determination was made for him to acquisition country for a groin injury.

Pompey’s wounded database besides features Connor Ogilvie, Mark Kosznovszky, Keshi Anderson, Franco Umeh and Thomas Waddingham. 

Jayden Meghoma and Tyerese Shade are some disposable pursuing their deadline-day arrivals, with the erstwhile successful contention to commencement astatine left-back.

As for the visitors, Dylan Lawlor is taking portion successful airy training, but helium inactive has immoderate mode to spell successful his rehabilitation earlier helium tin instrumentality to action.

Cardiff are besides without the antiaircraft duo of Calum Chambers and Will Fish owed to genu and hernia injuries respectively.

Krystian Bielik and Chris Willock are pushing for starting spots aft featuring arsenic half-time substitutes successful midweek.

Portsmouth imaginable starting lineup:

Bielica; Devlin, Arthur, Shaughnessy, Meghoma; Pack, Shein; Kamara, Segecic, Kavuma-McQueen; Marezi

Cardiff City imaginable starting lineup:

Trott; Ng, Osho, Bagan, Scanlon; Robertson, Bielik; Tanner, Moylan, Willock; Salech

We say: Portsmouth 1-1 Cardiff City

Portsmouth volition beryllium hopeless to debar different disappointing effect successful beforehand of their supporters, but we deliberation they volition person to settee for a gully against a Cardiff broadside that person drawn 3 of their archetypal 4 games. 

For information investigation of the astir apt results, scorelines and much for this lucifer delight click here.