Bristol City and Portsmouth continue their preparation for the 2022-23 campaign with friendly behind closed doors at the Robins High Performance Centre on Tuesday.
The hosts prevailed in their first friendly of the summer when they defeated Cheltenham Town ahead of another year in the Championship, while Portsmouth have already played three warm-up matches ahead of another push for promotion out of League One when they campaign kicks off at the end of July.
Nigel Pearson’s side got their pre-season off to a winning start against League One side Cheltenham on Wednesday, with second-half goals from George Tanner and Tommy Conway securing a 2-0 victory.
Pearson will be hopeful that his side can get the new season off to good start as they aim to provide more excitement for their fans with an improved league finish.
The experienced manager will have been pleased with his side’s clean sheet in their first runout of the summer on Wednesday, although against weaker opposition that they will face during much of the upcoming campaign.
Meanwhile, Portsmouth have already undertaken three friendlies ahead of their League One campaign, which begins on the same date at Sheffield Wednesday.
Pompey have defeated non-league side Havant & Waterlooville by a 3-0 scoreline back on July 2, before losing to another amateur outfit Gosport Borough just a day later, in which the squad was significantly rotated.
Danny Cowley’s side bounced back to defeat Qatari outfit Qatar SC out in Spain on Saturday, which concluded their pre-season training camp on a positive note.
Cowley will once again be tasked with guiding Portsmouth to promotion to the Championship when the new season kicks off in the coming weeks, after he led them to a disappointing 10th-placed finish in 2021-22, hence failing in their objective as many have done before him as well.
Bristol City vs Portsmouth head to head
The two teams have previously met on 15 occasions across all competitions, where Bristol have claimed four victories while Portsmouth have won two, and they have drawn in nine. They have both scored 13 goals in the process. In their last five meetings, Bristol have won one while they have drawn four.
Bristol City 0-0 Portsmouth 20/08/11
Portsmouth 0-0 Bristol City 17/03/12
Bristol City 0-0 Portsmouth 30/07/16
Bristol City 2-1 Portsmouth 10/01/21
Bristol City 3-3 Portsmouth 20/07/21
Bristol City latest home form
Bristol City have recently been on a good run of form at home, having been unbeaten in their five most recent matches. They managed to defeat Cheltenham Town 2-0 in their last home game in a friendly. In their last five matches, they have scored 11 goals and conceded four.
Bristol City 2-2 West Bromwich Albion 19/03/22
Bristol City 1-1 Peterborough United 09/04/22
Bristol City 1-1 Sheffield United 18/04/22
Bristol City 5-0 Hull City 30/04/22
Bristol City 2-0 Cheltenham Town 06/07/22
Bristol City latest away form
Bristol City have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having won just two of their five most recent matches. They lost 2-0 to Huddersfield Town in their last away game in the Championship. In their last five matches, they have scored six goals and conceded eight.
Barnsley 2-0 Bristol City 15/03/22
AFC Bournemouth 3-2 Bristol City 02/04/22
Stoke City 0-1 Bristol City 15/04/22
Derby County 1-3 Bristol City 23/04/22
Huddersfield Town 2-0 Bristol City 07/05/22
Portsmouth latest home form
Portsmouth have recently been on a poor run of form at home, having won each of their five most recent matches. They managed to defeat Qatar SC 2-0 in their last home game in a friendly. In their last five matches, they have scored 14 goals and conceded just five.
Portsmouth 3-0 Rotherham United 12/04/22
Portsmouth 3-2 Lincoln City 15/04/22
Portsmouth 3-1 Gillingham 23/04/22
Portsmouth 3-2 Wigan Athletic 26/04/22
Portsmouth 2-0 Qatar SC 09/07/22
Portsmouth latest away form
Portsmouth have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having won just one of their eight most recent matches. They lost 1-0 to Gosport Borough in their last away game in a friendly. In their last five matches, they have scored five goals and conceded seven.
Cheltenham Town 1-0 Portsmouth 09/04/22
Morecambe 1-1 Portsmouth 18/04/22
Sheffield Wednesday 4-1 Portsmouth 30/04/22
Havant & Waterlooville 0-3 Portsmouth 02/07/22
Gosport Borough 1-0 Portsmouth 03/07/22
Bristol City news
Bristol City will once again be without midfielder Alex Scott on Tuesday, as he was handed an extended summer break after helping England U19 to European Championships glory.
Summer recruits Mark Sykes, Kal Naismith and Kane Wilson all played a part against Cheltenham and will be involved once again in this contest.
Portsmouth news
Portsmouth’s summer arrivals Zak Swanson and Marlon Pack started in Spain on Saturday, and they are likely to be involved for the visitors again on Tuesday.
Cowley only has a small squad to manage, with several youngstars expected to be involved once again, including Jay Mingi, Harry Jewitt-White and Bridgeman.
Prediction and Odds
We are expecting a tight contest as many pre-season matches are, but Bristol City should have enough quality on display to edge out their lower-tier opposition.
Although Portsmouth should have the edge in terms of fitness here, having played an additional two friendlies, the hosts should manage to see them off.
Odds: 1 1.88 X 2.00 2 2.20
Probable outcomes
Bristol City 1-0 Portsmouth
Bristol City 2-0 Portsmouth
Bristol City 2-1 Portsmouth
Bristol City 0-0 Portsmouth
Bristol City 1-1 Portsmouth
