On the back of an eye-catching win over Rotherham United at the weekend, Portsmouth will return to action on Friday as Lincoln City make the trip to Fratton Park.
The hosts strengthened their position in 10th spot in the League One table with a 3-0 victory, while their visitors arrive on the back of a defeat to Wigan Athletic.
Match preview
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After appearing to occupy a promising position in the fight for the final playoff places, sitting on 57 points from 35 games after earning six wins from a run of seven matches, Portsmouth have dropped out of contention following a poor run.
That dip has come in line with a tough schedule, as they firstly played out a stalemate with Ipswich Town before suffering a defeat to Plymouth Argyle and drawing with Wycombe Wanderers and Bolton Wanderers.
A 1-0 loss away at Cheltenham Town left Danny Cowley's side winless in five matches, but they were able to bounce back last time out when they took on promotion-chasing Rotherham United.
Clark Robertson opened the scoring in the first half, and Marcus Harness and George Hirst stretched their lead around the hour mark to ensure Pompey returned to winning ways.
While the playoffs are now almost certainly out of reach, with a 10-point gap to bridge in five matches, Cowley's men will still look to end the season on a high with the chance to move back up to ninth spot with a win on Friday.
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They meet a Lincoln City side also trying to finish well with little to play for, as the Imps have continuously battled in the bottom half of the table throughout the season.
In a campaign defined by inconsistency, Michael Appleton's side ended a three-game winless run with a 2-1 away victory over mid-table rivals Charlton Athletic thanks to goals from Morgan Whittaker and Anthony Scully but were unable to add to that, having been forced to settle for a point against relegation-threatened Fleetwood Town.
The Imps most recently took on league leaders Wigan Athletic at the weekend, and, despite Scully drawing them level in the 14th minute, they eventually fell to a 3-1 defeat with Callum Lang hitting a brace alongside a Will Keane goal.
That result saw Appleton's men remain 18th in England's third tier, and, with 16th-placed Shrewsbury Town and 17th-placed Burton Albion both three points ahead, they will be hoping to return to winning ways to strengthen their claim for a higher mid-table position.
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Team News
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After Saturday's eye-catching win, Portsmouth are unlikely to make many changes to their starting XI, with George Hirst again set to lead the line following his eighth league goal of the season.
Tyler Walker will also be pushing for a start, although key forward Ronan Curtis will be difficult to displace, while Marcus Harness remains a goal threat from the wing.
Sean Raggett has been a star man at the back throughout the season, and he will again play alongside Clark Robertson at the heart of the defence in front of Manchester City loanee Gavin Bazunu, who has also shone between the sticks.
Anthony Scully should keep his place in the Lincoln attacking line, having hit two goals in his last three league appearances to take his tally to 10 for the season alongside seven assists.
Despite a long list of injuries, there is plenty of competition for spots in the front line, and Liam Cullen will have to battle to keep his place amid pressure from the likes of Tom Hopper.
Striker John Marquis will also be vying to start against his former club, having hit 37 goals in three years for Pompey before his January move to the Imps.
Portsmouth possible starting lineup:
Bazunu; Carter, Raggett, Robertson, Ogilvie; Harness, Morrell, Thompson, Jacobs; Curtis, Hirst
Lincoln City possible starting lineup:
Wright; Poole, Jackson, Walsh, Robson; Fiorini, Bishop, McGrandles; Maguire, Marquis, Scully
We say: Portsmouth 2-1 Lincoln City
Pompey should be filled with confidence from their thrashing of Rotherham at the weekend, and we see them making it back-to-back wins.
With the advantage of a home Fratton Park crowd, Cowley's men should outclass a Lincoln side lacking any consistency.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Portsmouth win with a probability of 49.85%. A win for Lincoln City had a probability of 25.16% and a draw had a probability of 25%.
The most likely scoreline for a Portsmouth win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.23%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.48%) and 2-0 (8.96%). The likeliest Lincoln City win was 0-1 (7.45%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.88%). The actual scoreline of 3-2 was predicted with a 2.7% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Portsmouth would win this match.
