Portsmouth vs Derby Prediction: Crunch clash at the top of League One

Fasten your seatbelts as there is a gargantuan clash at the summit of League One on Tuesday night (20:00) as Portsmouth go head-to-head with Derby County at Fratton Park. Five points separate the two teams heading into this one and league leaders Pompey still boast a game in hand over the Rams, so there is a lot of pressure on the visitors as they make their way to the south coast.

We should be in store for a cracker on the south coast for this one as both sides have been brilliant to watch this campaign. Here are our Portsmouth vs Derby predictions, including match odds and team news.

Match Odds

Portsmouth are 5/4 to win this huge encounter, while Derby are 2/1 to stump the hosts. The draw can be backed at 21/10. Both teams to score is valued at 8/11 and over 2.5 goals is at the enticing price of EVS.

Pompey's Colby Bishop is the second-highest goalscorer in the third tier with 18 goals so far this season. He is 4/1 to score first on Tuesday and 15/8 to find the back of the net at any time.

James Collins has scored 13 goals for the Rams this season and he is 11/5 to score anytime at Fratton Park.

Team News

Despite being five points clear at the top of the table, John Mousinho's side are having to deal with a lengthy injury list that includes Regan Poole, Tom McIntyre, Joe Morrell, Alex Robertson, Tom Bowery and Terry Devlin.

Tino Anjorin and Ben Stevenson are not too far away from returning to action but the crunch clash with the Rams may be deemed too soon for the pair.

Derby have a number of injury problems themselves as Jake Rooney, Ryan Nyambe, Craig Forsyth, Max Bird, Josh Vickers, Tyreece John-Jules and Tom Barkhuizen are all in the medical room.

Former Pompey defender Sonny Bradley will be unable to feature against his old club as he serves the second of the three-game suspension he picked up against Northampton Town last month.

Draw and both teams to score - Yes @ 16/5

In a game of this magnitude, football can often become a chess match, which can lead to a stalemate. We saw this in the Premier League on Sunday as title rivals Manchester City and Arsenal played out a boring 0-0, delivering one of the worst title clashes on record.

While we aren't expecting a boring affair in Portsmouth on Tuesday, we do think that a draw could be on the cards. Both these teams have won a whopping 25 games in League One so far but Pompey have had a better knack of picking up draws rather than defeats in comparison to Derby.

We're confident that both teams will score in this one because six of Portsmouth's last seven home games in League One has seen BTTS land, but also because Derby have scored in 36 of their 41 matches this term - the most of any team in the division.

They both boast a lot of quality within their ranks, and with both dealing with fairly lengthy injury lists, a draw feels likely.

Colby Bishop to score anytime @ 15/8

Bishop has been having an outstanding season at Fratton Park, and has been playing an instrumental role in Pompey's title charge. His 18 goals so far are only bettered by Charlton Athletic's Alfie May's tally of 21.

He has had a knack of popping up when his team need him most and in such a game against their closest rivals, we fancy Bishop to get on the scoresheet against the Rams.