Accrington Stanley vs Portsmouth Predictions

• Accrington have conceded at least one goal in 88% of their home matches.
• Portsmouth have scored in each of their last seven matches.
• Portsmouth have scored two goals or more in each of their last four matches.

An inconsistent home side can still trouble the big boys

Accrington Stanley may not be a side who will be up there with the sides challenging for the Championship but they will be concerned that their form so far this season has left them looking over their shoulders at the bottom four. The hosts are not exactly consistent and with just eight points earned from their eight matches, but there is one area where they can be counted on.

Stanley have managed to find the back of the net in 88% of their home matches so far this term and after putting seven past Bolton in their last home match, they will be confident in their ability to score plenty once again. However, this attacking intent leaves them pretty vulnerable at the back and the fact that the hosts have conceded in 88% of their home matches to date suggests that there is plenty of room for improvement in this area.

Improving fortunes for the visitors

The latest side to try and take points from Accrington Stanley at home is a Portsmouth side who are playing catchup after a pretty slow start to the campaign. The visitors are well off the pace in the race for automatic promotion but after going undefeated in their previous seven league matches, it appears that they have finally got their act together.

However, with just two away wins out of eight away matches, they cannot be relied upon for the win-draw-win market. Instead, we are noting that their goal output has improved of late and that same seven game undefeated run has seen them score 16 times. This, coupled with the fact that they have also conceded in 88% of their away matches seems to indicate a match with plenty of goals.

What we think

Both of these sides look set to adopt a positive approach to the game and with both perhaps thinking that attack is the best form of defence, it seems likely that there will be plenty of goals in this fixture. Neither of these teams have been particularly comfortable at the back and that should lead the way to goals at both ends of the pitch, which means backing both teams to score looks to be the way to go.

In terms of our correct score tip, we can only see there being plenty of goals scored in this fixture. The hosts average an impressive 2.13 goals per game on home soil, and while that average is boosted by the seven goals they put past Bolton, they will still be flying high following that result and should be confident in their ability to score plenty this weekend.

Although Pompy don’t average as much, with them scoring just 1.13 goals per game overall, their goalscoring output has improved of late and their last seven matches has seen them score an average of 2.29 goals per game. All of this leads us to believe that both sides will go on the attack, and a thrilling 2-2 draw is where we think the smart money can be found.