Wycombe Wanderers entertain Portsmouth on Tuesday in their 27th league game of the season.
Hot on the heels of their draw at fellow-strugglers Mansfield Town, Wycombe welcome Pompey to Adams Park for another key game in their quest to escape the nether regions of league two.
There were plenty of positives to take from Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Mansfield, but the biggest positive would have been a victory and it was difficult to be anything other than disappointed when the Blues let slip a 2-0 lead.
Much has been said about Wycombe’s lack of goals from central midfield, so the travelling fans were surprised and delighted when Josh Scowen opened his account for the season and Stuart Lewis took his tally to two.
It’s was no fluke either. Lewis has recently spent additional time practising his shooting and is now reaping the reward. Keep it up Stu, like Gary Player used to say, ‘The more I practise, the luckier I get.’
Another long-running complaint among Wycombe fans has been the lack of a striker with physical presence, but if Reece Styche’s debut performance is anything to go by, that problem could be a thing of the past.
As well as his ‘in your face’ attributes and aerial prowess, the Forest Green loanee also showed some deft touches, not least a cheeky backheel that released his strike partner and would have had the pundits purring on match-of-the-day.
Lack of pace is another criticism that’s been levelled at the Wycombe attack, but that too has been addressed by the addition of Anthony Jeffrey who made his debut after 69 minutes and immediately demonstrated why he was described as “one of the top three fastest boys in the country” by his previous employers Arsenal.
The final debutante was Wigan loanee Jordan Mustoe who occupied the troublesome left-back slot which released Sam Wood to play on the wing.
So, plenty of reasons to be optimistic, but with only one win in the last fourteen league games, Blues’ fans will remain concerned until Ainsworth’s men show them a few victories.
A home win would be nice.
The last one was over 15 weeks ago on October 12th when the Blues beat Torquay United 3-2. Since then, 9 attempts have resulted in 6 defeats and 3 draws in all competitions.
Think that’s bad? …you should see Portsmouth’s away record.
Pompey’s one and only away-win in the league was on September 14th at Burton Albion, over 19 weeks ago.
So it’s either a draw or someone’s abysmal record will come to an end.
Looking at the stats below, it’s interesting to note that both sides rank highly for their first-half performances but deteriorate badly after the break.
With only goal difference separating the clubs and much at stake, this promises to be a nail-biting, six-pointy thriller. So don’t miss it, get yourself down to Adams Park… and pray.
Here are all the stats…
League positions & comparison with last season
Wycombe (3 points worse off)
After 26 games this season the Chairboys are 19th with 29 points
After 26 games last season they were 17th with 32 points
Portsmouth (8 points better off – 1 division lower)
After 27 games this season Pompey are 21st in Lg2 with 29 points
After 27 games last season they were 23rd in Lg1 with 21 points
Wycombe Home Record…W 3 – D 3 – L 7 – Pts 12…Ppg 0.92 (Rank-23)
Pompey Away Record……W 1 – D 8 – L 4 – Pts 11…Ppg 0.85 (Rank-19)
Wycombe’s last five games (All Competitions)
Lg2: Newport (H)…………..Lost 0-1
Lg2: Wimbledon (H)……….Lost 0-3
Lg2: Morecambe (A)……..Drew 1-1
Lg2: Oxford (H)…………….Lost 0-1
Lg2: Mansfield (A)………..Drew 2-2
Portsmouth’s last five games (All Competitions)
Lg2: Northampton (H)……Drew 0-0
Lg2: Southend (A)………….Lost 1-2
Lg2: Oxford (A)……………Drew 0-0
Lg2: Mansfield (H)…………Drew 1-1
Lg2: Morecambe (A)………Drew 2-2
Wycombe Goal Stats (33 games in all Competitions)
Goals Scored (Total)……….Lg: 32…Cups: 9…Total: 41
Goals Conceded (Total)……Lg: 36…Cups: 7…Total: 43
Goals Scored (Home)………Lg: 12…Cups: 4…Total: 16
Goals Conceded (Home)…..Lg: 18…Cups: 5…Total: 23
Clean Sheets…………………Lg: 3…..Cups: 2…Total: 5
Failed to Score……………….Lg: 7…..Cups: 1…Total: 8
Portsmouth Goal Stats (32 games in all Competitions)
Goals Scored (Total)……….Lg: 32…Cups: 3…Total: 35
Goals Conceded (Total)……Lg: 41…Cups: 7…Total: 48
Goals Scored (Away)………Lg: 15…Cups: 3…Total: 18
Goals Conceded (Away)…..Lg: 23…Cups: 7…Total: 30
Clean Sheets…………………Lg: 7…..Cups: 1…Total: 10
Failed to Score……………….Lg: 8…..Cups: 3…Total: 11
Wycombe Goal Scorers – (All Competitions)
Matt McClure………….Lg: 4 – Cups: 2 – Total: 6
Dean Morgan…………Lg: 6 – Cups: 0 – Total: 6
Paris Cowan-Hall…….Lg: 4 – Cups: 1 – Total: 5
Jo Kuffour……………..Lg: 3 – Cups: 1 – Total: 4
Anthony Stewart……..Lg: 3 – Cups: 1 – Total: 4
Steven Craig………….Lg: 2 – Cups: 1 – Total: 3
Max Kretzschmar…….Lg: 3 – Cups: 0 – Total: 3
Billy Knott……………..Lg: 1 – Cups: 1 – Total: 2
Stuart Lewis…………..Lg: 2 – Cups: 0 – Total: 2
Matt Bloomfield………Lg: 0 – Cups: 1 – Total: 1
Gary Doherty…………Lg: 0 – Cups: 1 – Total: 1
Kortney Hause……….Lg: 1 – Cups: 0 – Total: 1
Leon Johnson…………Lg: 1 – Cups: 0 – Total: 1
Josh Scowen………….Lg: 1 – Cups: 0 – Total: 1
Sam Wood…………….Lg: 1 – Cups: 0 – Total: 1
Portsmouth’s top Goal Scorers – (All Competitions)
Patrick Agyemang……6
David Connolly……….5
Jed Wallace……………4
Ryan Bird……………..3
Bondz N’Gala………….3
Andy Barcham………..3
Ricky Holmes………….2
Jake Jervis…………….2
Six other players have each scored one goal.
Wycombe Shooting (Top-3) – (All Competitions)
Dean Morgan……….12 on-target…18 off-target…1 against woodwork
Billy Knott…………….9 on-target…17 off-target…0 against woodwork
Stuart Lewis………..10 on-target…15 off-target…0 against woodwork
Portsmouth Shooting (Top-3) – (All Competitions)
Jed Wallace…………11 on-target…34 off-target…6 against woodwork
Andy Barcham……..13 on-target…16 off-target…2 against woodwork
Patrick Agyemang…10 on-target…16 off-target…0 against woodwork
Shooting (Club) – (League only)
Wycombe…..97 on target…123 off target….2 against w’work (Rank-23)
Pompey……..82 on target…139 off target…10 against w’work (Rank-22)
Discipline – (All Competitions)
Wycombe……..8 Red Cards – 67 Yellow Cards (1 red card rescinded)
Portsmouth……4 Red Cards – 54 Yellow Cards
League Form Guide
All Season
Wycombe…..Pld: 26…W: 7…D: 8….L: 11…Pts: 29…Pts per game: 1.12
Pompey…….Pld: 27…W: 6…D: 11…L: 10…Pts: 29…Pts per game: 1.07
Last Five league Games
Wycombe………..LLDLD – 2 points (Rank-24)
Portsmouth…….DLDDD – 4 points (Rank-17)
Last Five League Games (Home)
Wycombe……….DDLLL – 2 points (Rank-23)
Last Five League Games (Away)
Portsmouth……..DLLDD – 3 points (Rank-22)
Against Top Half Opposition
Wycombe……Pld: 14…Pts: 12…Pts per game: 0.86…(Rank-21)
Pompey………Pld: 15…Pts: 15…Pts per game: 1.00…(Rank-15)
Against Bottom Half Opposition
Wycombe……Pld: 12…Pts: 17…Pts per game: 1.42…(Rank-13)
Pompey………Pld: 12…Pts: 14…Pts per game: 1.17…(Rank-21)
First Half v Second Half – Performance Comparison
First-Half
Wycombe…..W: 9….D: 10…L: 7…Gf:13…Ga:12…Ppg: 1.42 (Rank-9)
Pompey…….W: 10…D: 11…L: 6…Gf:19…Ga:13…Ppg: 1.52 (Rank-6)
Second-Half
Wycombe….W: 6…D: 9….L: 11…Gf:19…Ga:24…Ppg: 1.04 (Rank-21)
Pompey……W: 3…D: 11…L: 13…Gf:13…Ga:28…Ppg: 0.74 (Rank-24)
Previous Meetings
Apart from the game that was abandoned in October, the two sides have met just twice in a competitive match.
2012/13 JPT: Portsmouth 1 Wycombe 3
2013/14 Lg2: Portsmouth 2 Wycombe 2
The Man In The Middle
Tuesday’s man in the middle is Charles Breakspear from Surrey who is enjoying his first campaign as a Football League referee. He has never previously taken charge of a game involving either Wycombe or Portsmouth. So far this season he’s issued 6 (**warning**warning**) red and 62 yellow cards in 15 games.
Prediction
Wycombe 1 Portsmouth 1
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