Portsmouth have suffered just three defeats in 15 away from Fratton Park (W6-D6-L3) in League Two football under Paul Cook but they’ve managed just two clean sheets in their past 23 league outings on their travels.
Crawley were held to a goalless draw in the midst of August and Newport – rock-bottom when they clashed in October – were beaten 1-0. Bar those two fixtures, the south-coast club have leaked in all 13 matches on the road this term.
Since that success over Newport, Cook’s troops have W6-D8-L5 to accumulate 26 points from 19 games – that would rank Portsmouth 14th in the standings – and their two-point haul from four travelling trips since seeing off Northampton has contributed to their promotion slump.
Naturally, I’ve no inclination to get Pompey onside as they head west to face Exeter but I will jump on the overwhelming trends pointing in the direction of Both Teams To Score with 1.91 on offer.
Exeter don’t possess a fearsome record at as hosts – five wins in 16 this season and 13/39 (33%) since the start of 2014/15 – but they have a superb habit for producing goal-heavy games.
The Grecians have delivered Both Teams To Score winners in 27/39 (69%) since the beginning of last season and 10/16 (63%) this term as hosts.
And with Portsmouth’s poor defensive record on the road, Cook’s visitors have followed suit in 12/15 (80%) of their 2015/16 games as guests seeing BTTS, as well as 22/38 (58%) going back to 2014/15.
Whichever way you look at it, the stats are suggesting at least a 63% chance of success on Tuesday night and that implies odds of around 1.57. However, the 1.91 odds on offer implies just a 52% chance of both teams to score banking – it’s big value.
Thank you for this match, close but winner 🙂