Portsmouth boss John Mousinho

Portsmouth final Championship position predicted by updated Opta supercomputer

Dan is a sports writer and broadcaster, who wrote for Breaking Media Limited's club sites including Pompey News between May 2024 and May 2025. Graduating from the University of Huddersfield in 2018 with First Class Honours in Sports Journalism, Dan has worked with several EFL clubs, as well as with BBC Radio, talkSPORT and TNT Sports. He previously resided in Sydney, Australia, where he continued his career as a freelancer in various sports. Dan was born and raised in Portsmouth, comes from a Pompey-supporting family, and was in attendance at both of the club's FA Cup finals in 2008 and 2010.

Published on:

08 Oct 2024, 2:06 pm

Portsmouth fans may want to turn away now as Opta predicts the club have a 23.5 percent chance of finishing in their current position of 23rd in the Championship.

The supercomputer has calculated [8 October] the percentage probability of where each club will finish at the end of the season, and reveals Pompey are statistically likeliest to rank second-bottom, which they currently occupy.

John Mousinho's side are shown to have a 16.2 per cent chance of finishing the campaign rock-bottom; 16.7 per cent probability of 22nd and just a 43.4 per cent faith in avoiding relegation.

The analytical data also interestingly ranks the Blues highest in the division for the toughness of the first nine fixtures they have faced, which has been widely spoken about, with a scoring system ranking a 78.8 per cent difficulty rating.

Portsmouth predicted by Opta to be in trouble

The fact Opta acknowledges that Portsmouth have had the statistically toughest fixtures so far in the league actually contradicts the probability of relegation, which looks hefty for the Blues at this stage of the season and only worse viewing for a Cardiff City fan.

But data is data - it disregards the human element and Mousinho will remain in full confidence Pompey can elevate themselves out of any danger.

The block of three matches after the international break are potentially season-defining - QPR and Cardiff, who join the Blues in the drop zone, are up next. The three clubs have two wins between them in the entire campaign so far, sadly none of them for Pompey.

Sheffield Wednesday visit Fratton Park in the final October fixture - the Owls have been unpredictable and while picking up some decent results, still sit in the bottom half and appear a far cry from some of the opponents Mousinho's men have battled.

Championship fixture difficulty [Credit: Opta Analyst]

Their cross-city rivals Sheffield United have only dropped two points in their last five games, which came in a goalless draw at Fratton Park.

The performances are there - at times - but the results must soon start to follow.

In other Portsmouth news, a released youngster is making serious waves further down the pyramid.

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