Wycombe v Portsmouth predictions: Stop-start season may continue for Chairboys

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Wycombe v Portsmouth in League One on Sunday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Football, 12.30pm Sunday

Best bet

Portsmouth draw no bet
1pt 20-21 BoyleSports

Team news

Wycombe
Joe Jacobson is suspended and Curtis Thompson is still out, but Chris Forino and Sullay Kaikai are back in contention.

Portsmouth
Loanees Owen Dale and Dane Scarlett are back in contention after missing last weekend’s FA Cup tie. Louis Thompson, Tom Lowery and Michael Jacobs are back in training but this match comes too soon. Joe Morrell has declined the chance to have the weekend off after returning from the World Cup with Wales.

Match preview

Last season’s League One playoff final victims Wycombe have fallen well below expectations and a troubled start to the campaign could continue against promotion-chasing Portsmouth.

The Chairboys looked as if they had turned a corner in October as they recorded three straight league victories, including the impressive scalps of Oxford and Peterborough.

However, they have won only one of their subsequent five starts and their last three home games have seen them beaten 3-2 by Cambridge and held to score draws by Morecambe and Port Vale.

A two-week break may spark some sort of a revival but it needs to as they were also beaten 1-0 at Cheltenham when last seen in mid-October and now entertain a Portsmouth side on the cusp of the playoff places.

Today's game is billed by Sky Sports as the first "EFL Access All Areas" fixture and Wycombe will be hoping it’s one to remember. But it will be difficult to inflict defeat on a Pompey side who have lost only twice in 17 attempts in League One this term.

Only second-placed Ipswich have suffered as few losses as the confident visitors, who head to Adams Park unbeaten in nine games in all competitions.

The problem for Danny Cowley’s team is they are prone to dropping points from too many draws - they have endured eight stalemates this season and four in succession.

They have also played two matches since Wycombe were last in action, winning 2-0 at Ipswich in the EFL Trophy and recording a 3-2 success at home to MK Dons in last weekend’s FA Cup.

But, even so, that may mean they are the sharper of the pair and the south-coast side appear the more likely winners.

Defensively Cowely has his men well-organised and in Colby Bishop, who has 13 goals in 20 appearances this term, they have a striker performing at the peak of his powers.

Pompey are four points and five places better off than Wycombe, despite having played two games fewer.