Oxford United vs Portsmouth Prediction and Betting Tips

Oxford United and Portsmouth kick off their 2025-26 EFL Championship campaign when they lock horns at the Kassam Stadium on Saturday. John Mousinho’s men head into the season opener unbeaten in their last seven games against the hosts and will be looking to extend this dominant three-year streak.

Having ended their lengthy absence from the English second tier last season, Oxford United finished 17th in the table to preserve their league status for another season.

Gary Rowett’s side picked up 13 wins and 14 draws from their 46 matches to collect 53 points and finish four points above the relegation zone.

Oxford head into the new term off the back of a decent run of results in pre-season, where they picked up four wins and two draws from their eight warm-up matches.

As for Portsmouth, they enjoyed an unbeaten pre-season campaign, picking up five wins and one draw from their six friendly matches while scoring 13 goals and keeping six clean sheets.

Mousinho’s men, who also made their return to Championship last season, picked up 54 points from their 46 games to finish 16th in the standings, one point and one place above this weekend’s hosts.

Portsmouth will be backing themselves to continue from where they left off in pre-season as they take on an opponent, who have failed to win their last seven meetings (3L, 4D) in this fixture since a narrow 3-2 victory in February 2022.

Oxford United vs Portsmouth Head-To-Head and Key Numbers

With 29 wins from the last 78 meetings between the sides, Portsmouth boasts a superior record in the history of this fixture.
Oxford United have picked up 24 wins in that time, while the spoils have been shared on 25 occasions.
Oxford finished the 2024-25 campaign unbeaten in four of their last five Championship matches, picking up two wins and two draws.
Portsmouth are on a run of just one win from their last six Championship away matches while losing four and claiming one draw since the start of March.

Oxford United vs Portsmouth Prediction

Looking at recent meetings between Oxford and Portsmouth, we expect another exciting contest this weekend as both sides look to kick off the season on a high.

However, both sides are evenly matched on paper and we predict they will cancel out each other’s efforts and settle for a share of the spoils at the Kassam Stadium.

Prediction: Oxford United 1-1 Portsmouth

Oxford United vs Portsmouth Betting Tips

Tip 1: Result - Draw

Tip 2: Both sides to score - Yes (Both sides have scored in seven of their last eight meetings)

Tip 3: Over 4.5 cards - No (There have been fewer than 11 corner kicks in Portsmouth’s last eight matches)

About the author

Joshua is a European and international football writer at Sportskeeda who covers news and match previews. He fell in love with the sport watching Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o win titles at club and international level, and his passion for the sport led him to become a professional football writer. He has an overall professional experience of 5 years.

Joshua supports Chelsea at club level, having witnessed a number of African stars break records with the club. Drogba’s equalizing header and match-winning shootout penalty for Chelsea against Bayern Munich in the 2012 UEFA Champions League final left a last impact on him. His favorite player is Eden Hazard and favorite manager is Jose Mourinho, who gave him the most joyous days as a Blues supporter. He believes that Cristiano Ronaldo is unlucky to be born in Messi’s era and favors the Argentine in the G.O.A.T. debate.

Joshua also follows the Portuguese Primeira Liga and the Nigeria Professional Football League and loves to play football during his free time. Having attained a B.Sc. in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Ibadan, he employs his problem-solving skills in crafting articles while doing extensive research to ensure each article is well thought out and crafted.

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