West Bromwich Albion will host Portsmouth at The Hawthorns as the Championship enters match week three.
The Baggies will be aiming to make it three successive wins to start the campaign, following victories over Blackburn and Wrexham.
Portsmouth currently sit 13th in the table with three points, having lost at home to Norwich last time out after opening the season with a win against Oxford.
Manager John Mousinho will be hoping for a better showing than last season, when his side were comprehensively beaten 8-1 on aggregate across the two fixtures against West Brom.
Team News
West Brom have no new injury concerns heading into this weekend’s fixture.
Forward Daryl Dike and midfielder Tammy Bany remain sidelined until after the international break, while Josh Maja was an unused substitute against Wrexham as he continues his recovery from the season-ending injury he suffered last January.
New signings Krystian Bielik and Toby Collyer are both available for boss Ryan Mason to select.
Portsmouth will be without Harvey Blair (hamstring) and Marlon Pack (knee) for the trip to The Hawthorns.
Manager John Mousinho welcomed back star man Josh Murphy in the defeat to Norwich, after the forward missed the season opener with a hamstring issue.
New signing Josh Knight, who joined from Hannover 96, is expected to be included in the Pompey squad.
Predicted Lineups
West Bromwich Albion
Josh Griffiths (GK), Darnell Furlong, Nat Phillips, George Campbell, Callum Styles, Alex Mowatt, Jayson Molumby, Isaac Price, Tom Fellows, Mikey Johnston, Aune Heggebo.
Portsmouth
Nicolas Schmid (GK), Jordan Williams, Conor Shaughnessy, Regan Poole, Connor Ogilvie, Andre Dozzell, John Swift, Adrian Segecic, Josh Murphy, Florian Bianchini, Colby Bishop.
Players To Watch
West Bromwich Albion: Alex Mowatt
The 30-year-old midfielder put pen to paper on a new two-year deal this week, extending his stay at The Hawthorns until the summer of 2027.
Mowatt has started the season in great form and scored three goals in two games against Pompey last season, including a stunning free-kick.
Portsmouth: John Swift
John Swift will have the bit between his teeth when he faces his former side this Saturday.
The 30-year-old was released by the Baggies in the summer after three seasons in the West Midlands and cut a divisive figure among the fanbase. Many supporters voiced their discontent with Swift, who was left out of matchday squads by interim manager James Morrison at the end of last season.
Now, he returns looking to prove a point against the club he made 126 appearances for, scoring 19 goals.
Previous Meetings
West Bromwich Albion 5-1 Portsmouth, January 2025
West Brom produced a five-star display at The Hawthorns on a miserable day for Portsmouth. The West Midlands side raced into a 4-0 lead by half-time thanks to goals from Alex Mowatt, Jed Wallace, and a Grady Diangana brace. John Swift, now of Portsmouth, made it five 11 minutes into the second half before Thomas Waddingham pulled one back late on. The win was one of only five under then-manager Tony Mowbray before his departure at the end of the season.
Portsmouth 0-3 West Bromwich Albion, September 2024
The Baggies romped to victory at Fratton Park in a result that sent them top of the table after five games of the 2024/25 campaign. Josh Maja opened the scoring inside the first minute before a classy Alex Mowatt brace sealed the triumph, the second of which came from a spectacular free-kick.
Portsmouth 2-2 West Bromwich Albion, April 2009
The third most recent encounter between the sides came over 15 years ago, in matchweek 32 of the 2008/09 Premier League season. Defender Younes Kaboul opened the scoring for Portsmouth before the Baggies turned the game on its head through Jonathan Greening and Chris Brunt. Pompey hit back via Niko Kranjčar, and the match ended all square. West Brom went on to be relegated that season, while Portsmouth finished a respectable 14th.
Key Statistics
- West Bromwich Albion will be looking to extend their unbeaten home run against Portsmouth to nine games this weekend, with the away side’s last victory coming in 1998 at The Hawthorns.
- The last time Albion won their opening three league games of a campaign was back in 1997/98 when they secured victories over Tranmere Rovers (2-1), Crewe Alexandra (3-2) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (1-0).
- Portsmouth had the second worst away record in the Sky Bet Championship in 2024/25, but have taken seven points from the last nine on offer on their travels.
- Albion have scored 22 goals in their last eight home games when facing Portsmouth. Saturday’s hosts also scored eight times in two matches last season against them.
- Saturday’s game will be the second time Albion and Portsmouth have met this season. The two teams were on the same flight to Austria in July for respective pre-season training camps.
