Mousinho must axe Matt Ritchie for Portsmouth v Leeds United after what he did
Matt Ritchie might have to be taken out of Portsmouth’s starting XI for their Championship clash against Leeds United after what he did against Luton.
Pompey travelled to Kenilworth Road on Saturday in a relegation six-pointer with both teams hovering around the bottom three of the Championship.
The Blues crashed to a 1-0 defeat with John Mousinho’s men failing to capitalise on late pressure to equalise against the Hatters.
Ritchie needs to be dropped after performance v Luton
Pompey never made it out of second gear despite the chances they had throughout the game.
Luton were going into the clash without a win in their last 12 second-tier games so the fact they beat Pompey is a slight cause for concern.
Although a handful of Mousinho’s men played well, Ritchie was well below par.
As per Sofascore, in the opening 45 minutes, the former Newcastle man had just 12 touches of the ball and only managed to maintain a pass accuracy of 47 per cent.
None of his eight completed passes were deemed to be key with zero per cent of his crosses making it to their intended target.
In addition to that, zero per cent of his long balls worked out as he wanted, either.
Defensively, things weren’t much better either as he didn’t win any of the ground duels he attempted and also lost possession of the ball 12 times.
He also committed one foul despite being hooked by Mousinho at the start of the second half.
This performance against Luton outlines why the Scotsman needs to be axed against Leeds next time out, especially if they want to try and sneak any points from the clash.
Portsmouth need to step things up in the Championship
Even though Portsmouth are 17th in the Championship and eight points away from the drop, more needs to come from Mousinho’s men.
Thanks to their win against Pompey, Luton are now on 31 points and on the cusp of making their way out of the drop zone.
| Team | Position | Points |
| Portsmouth | 17th | 39 |
| Oxford United | 18th | 38 |
| Stoke City | 19th | 36 |
| Cardiff City | 20th | 36 |
| Hull City | 21st | 33 |
| Luton Town | 22nd | 31 |
Saturday’s game was one that the Portsmouth should have won but evidently, they couldn’t.
If they want to ensure their survival and continue being a Championship team next term, they’re going to have to step things up and get back to winning ways as soon as possible.
Otherwise, it could end up in tears for everyone involved with the club.