It is a battle of the top two as Portsmouth welcome Bolton Wanderers to Fratton Park for a Monday night League One fixture. While Bolton have impressed this season and can make things difficult, Pompey often do well in front of their fans and should have the upper hand here.
Portsmouth head into Monday’s clash off the back of a 3-0 victory at Northampton Town in their previous League One fixture. They made a fast start and struck early in the encounter through Sean Raggett before Paddy Lane sealed the rout with a brace.
John Mousinho’s men are currently setting the pace at the top of the standings and are showing no signs of slowing down. They have been beaten just once in League One this season and have won seven of their last 10 matches.
A sour point for Portsmouth is that their only defeat this season came in their previous home fixture as they were beaten 4-0 by Blackpool. However, they had won five of the previous six matches at Fratton Park and will be keen to make a swift return to winning ways in front of their fans.
Bolton Wanderers have kept close tabs on Portsmouth all season as they are currently second on the standings, three points off the pace. However, unlike their hosts, they have already been beaten three times this season.
The Trotters have been in particularly good form in recent weeks and are unbeaten in their last seven League One matches. They were held to a 0-0 draw by Oxford United in their previous fixture while they travel to Fratton Park with a 2-0 victory over Port Vale in an EFL Trophy clash.
Bolton Wanderers have also shown some quality on their travels and are unbeaten in their last five League One matches away from home. Ian Evatt’s men had claimed four straight wins prior to the stalemate at Oxford United.
How the bookies view it
Portsmouth have the upper hand among the bookies with a home win priced at 11/8 by BoyleSports to claim the win. A victory for Bolton Wanderers is valued at 21/10 by Coral while bet365 is offering odds of 5/2 for a draw.
Head to head
Bolton Wanderers have a 34-27 advantage with 19 draws from 80 previous matches against Portsmouth. However, Pompey have won the last four meetings at Fratton Park, including a 3-1 victory in the lost recent clash back in February.
Players to watch
With top scorer Colby Bishop sidelined with an ankle injury, Paddy Lane will be the one to watch for Portsmouth on Monday. The attacker has five goals this season including a brace last time out and is priced at 3/1 by bet365 to get on the score sheet.
Bolton Wanderers will look to Dion Charles to provide the spark in attack having found the net 11 times so far in League One. The forward has also been on target in the last two meetings with Portsmouth and is priced at 2/1 by BetVictor to maintain his scoring run.
Anything else catch the eye?
Portsmouth and Bolton Wanderers have quality in attack and both teams could be backed to score at 5/6 with 10bet. Having produced over 3.5 in their last meeting, a repeat could be considered at 5/2 with William Hill while 10bet is offering odds of 11/10 on over 2.5 goals.
Pompey have opened the scoring in three of their last four League One matches and are priced at 10/11 by Ladbrokes to grab the first goal on Monday.
This English League One match between Portsmouth and Bolton Wanderers will be played on Dec 11, 2023 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Portsmouth vs Bolton Wanderers prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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