Football Bet of the Day: Low-scoring affair at the Valley?

We’ve got some EFL Championship action coming our way on Tuesday, while the Uefa Champions League takes the main focus as the knockout stages begin. 

Below you can find my Football Bet of the Day as we search for a winner. 

Charlton vs Portsmouth Odds

We’ve got a tussle near the bottom of the Championship coming our way on Tuesday night as Charlton Athletic host Portsmouth (19:45 GMT, Sky Sports+). Pompey have lost their last two games on the bounce without scoring, and now they sit on the edge of the bottom three, albeit with two games in hand on Leicester City in 22nd. 

Meanwhile, Charlton have picked up seven points from nine since they got hammered 4-0 by London rivals Millwall, and Nathan Jones has taken them up to 18th in the league, seven points clear of the bottom three. Clearly then, this fixture will have big implications for these two, and the other strugglers at the bottom end of the second tier. 

The Addicks success lately has come from them tightening things up and the back, and having recorded three clean sheets in a row, I’m backing them to make this another low-scoring affair. Charlton’s defensive additions in January look to have given them the boost they needed and now Jones can rely on a fair solid back three - with Conor Coady being deployed just in front of them in the ‘Sergio Busquets’ role. 

No, I didn’t see that comparison coming either. Amari’i Bell and Kayne Ramsay have improved their back three and they just look like a far more functional and solid team at this moment in time. 

After three clean sheets in a row I think this will be another very tight encounter up against a Portsmouth team that have lost their last two games by one goal to nil. They can count themselves unfortunate to come away empty-handed from games against Preston and Sheffield United as the Blades stole all three points in added time at Fratton Park on Saturday.

Having said that, they aren’t taking their chances and although xG suggests that they are creating enough to pick up points, the lack of confidence from the strikers may play some part as we move forward towards the business end of the season. 

Colby Bishop will lead the line for them, but I can see a very slow and battling fixture at the Valley on the night, meaning hopefully for us, a lack of goalmouth action. If I had to plump for a correct scoreline I would lean towards the hosts taking a 1-0 win, but for our Football Bet of the Day I shall simply back under 1.5 goals at a decent price of 7/4. 

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