OPPONENTS: Oldham Athletic Association Football Club
MANAGER: Richie Wellens (caretaker manager after John Sheridan got fired last week)
NICKNAME: The Latics
LEAGUE POSITION: 23rd
THE JOURNEY: Boundary Park to Fratton Park – Around 250 miles – about 5 hours each way.
LAST TIME OUT:
* Pompey were slow out the blocks but fought hard to get a 3-0 win against Bristol Rovers in midweek. Goals from Ollie Watkins and Brett Pitman gave the Blues 3 valuable points
* Despite being bottom of the table and down to 10 men, Oldham won 3-2 on Tuesday in their first game under new caretaker manager Richie Wellens. Eoin Doyle got two and Dan Gardner got the other.
POMPEY STATS:
* Pompey are still yet to record back to back wins in League One since March 2013. They haven’t lost back to back since February 2013.
* If he plays, Christian Burgess will be playing his 100th game for Pompey, joining Ryan Bennett and Gareth Evans in the 100 club.
* Pompey have only lost once at home since March (against Rotherham) – it was also the only game they have failed to score at Fratton Park in since defeat to Crewe.
* Brett Pitman has scored 8 goals this season, and 7 of them have come at Fratton Park. He has netted twice on 3 occasions this season (in 5 home games)
* Top Scorer: Pitman (8), Chaplin/Lowe (2)
OLDHAM STATS:
* Oldham’s win on Tuesday was only their second win this season, putting them on 7 points after 10 games.
* Despite their poor start, Oldham have scored more goals (15) in their opening 10 games than any other team outside the top 10, including Portsmouth (14)
* The reason for this is their shocking defensive record. The Latics have leaked 25 goals, the joint highest in England, and have conceded at least 2 goals in every game this season.
* The Latics have used 29 different players this season in 10 games this season, with 5 more making the squad but not leaving the bench. It’s no surprise the team has become unsettled!
* Top Scorers: Craig Davies (5), Eoin Doyle (4), Jack Byrne (2)
HEAD TO HEAD (Courtesy of Pompeyrama.com):
* Oldham hold the bragging rights over the blues in the 35 previous fixtures between the two sides, having won 16 to Portsmouth’s 10.
* Only 1 of the last 7 meetings has seen over 2.5 goals, and none have seen over 3.5.
* The last time the two sides met at Fratton was a 1-0 win for the Latics in League One back at the start of the 12/13 season. Michael Appleton was in charge on that day.
PLAYED FOR US/PLAYED FOR THEM
* Eoin Doyle – See below.
ONE TO WATCH:
* Eoin Doyle – That’s right, the Irish international who had half a season at Fratton Park before getting injured has been banging them in for lowly Oldham. His time at Fratton was unfortunate; the never quite got the rub of the green, and only found the net twice. But watching him for 90 minutes his work rate is second to none and the space he creates for other players with his intelligent runs is really something we have to be wary of.
PREDICTION:
* Quite typically we come up against a struggling side who have just found a bit of form. New manager (well, caretaker) and a heroic win in midweek with 10 men. But I would hope we would be too strong for them on Saturday and be able to repeatedly breach the weakest defence in the country. I’m plumping for a 5-2 win, with a Pitman hat-trick (2 pens), Kennedy and Lowe getting the goals.
NEXT 5 GAMES:
Tue 3rd Oct – Crawley (H) – EFL Trophy
Sun 8th Oct – Gillingham (A) – League One
Sat 14th Oct – MK Dons (H) – League One
Tue 17th Oct – Doncaster (A) – League One
Sat 21st Oct – Blackburn (A) – League One
PUP
Written by PompeyFrippy and originally posted in the forum.
Follow @VitalPortsmouth.
2017-18 Prediction League – September
Oldham (h) – Saturday 30th September 2017 – click here.
