Middlesbrough vs Portsmouth Prediction: Hosts to bounce back

Middlesbrough will be looking to respond to last week's surprise defeat against Derby County when they welcome fellow promoted side Portsmouth to the Riverside Stadium on Saturday (15:00). Boro won their opening match against Swansea, which was also at home, so they will look for another strong performance at home.

Portsmouth have registered two draws so far and they came against two of last year's relegated sides in Leeds United and Luton Town. They will fancy their chances in this one. Read on for my Middlesbrough vs Portsmouth prediction, accompanied by match odds and team news.

Middlesbrough vs Portsmouth Odds

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Middlesbrough are 4/9 to win this match, which gives them a 69.2% chance. Portsmouth are priced at 6/1, giving them an implied probability of 14.3%. The draw can be backed at 100/30 (23.1%). Both teams to score is marketed at 5/6.

Football Odds

Team News

Boro have been missing Darragh Lenihan and Dael Fry for the first three games of the season, and the duo are likely to be absent again. Jonny Howson looks set to be out for a few weeks due to a problem he picked up in the Carabao Cup clash with Leeds.

Riley McGree will be hoping to be fit in time for Saturday, having missed the last two matches.

For Pompey, they are likely to be missing Tom McIntyre, Regan Poole, Jacob Farrell, Josh Murphy, Colby Bishop and Kusini Yengi, while Samuel Silvera is ineligible to face his parent club as per his loan agreement.

Boss John Mousinho has admitted that Marlon Pack is a doubt for the weekend despite passing the concussion protocols following a collision with teammate Owen Moxon last time out.

Nicolas Schmid and midfielder Abdoulaye Kamara will be hoping to make their debuts this weekend after arriving at the club this week.

Middlesbrough and under 2.5 goals @ 13/5

I think Boro are going to be a very tough side to beat on home soil this season, so I think they are worth backing to beat Portsmouth here. I have boosted the odds with under 2.5 goals, though, because Boro have only managed one goal so far, while just conceding once as well.

They're defensively strong, and they have faced just eight shots so far in the league (the lowest in the division). So I think Pompey are going to be in for a much tougher away game than the one they experienced at Elland Road on the opening weekend of the campaign.

Michael Carrick will look for an immediate response to last week's defeat and where better for his players to deliver than on home soil? They have the quality to secure the three points, but I am not expecting a flurry of goals.

Emmanuel Latte Lath anytime goalscorer @ 6/5

That being said, I think there is one person who stands out above all the rest to get on the scoresheet, and that is Boro's Ivorian striker Emmanuel Latte Lath. The forward netted 16 league goals for Boro last term, and he has already opened his account for 2024/25 in the 1-0 victory over Swansea.

I think the Riverside will be the source for many of his goals this campaign and I am backing him to register his second of the season here against Pompey on Saturday.

Offers

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