Portsmouth vs Derby County

Portsmouth dominated the ball at Fratton Park on Tuesday, 1 September 2026 but had nothing to show for it as Derby County left with all three points. The visitors led at the break through a goal that Pompey never really found an answer for, and despite piling forward for long spells and racking up 21 shots to Derby's 8, they simply couldn't find a way through. Sloppy finishing told the story really, only 3 of those efforts troubled the keeper, while Derby made their limited chances count with 5 shots on target from just 8 attempts. Eleven corners for the hosts summed up the pattern of a game where territory meant little without cutting edge. Szmodics was the difference, picking up the man of the match award with a rating of 7.82 for a display that had far more end product than Portsmouth could muster all evening. The 0-2 final score flattered a Pompey side that had the better of possession but looked blunt in the final third, while Derby showed the kind of efficiency away from home that could serve them well as the season develops. For Portsmouth, questions will linger about how they turned so much pressure into so little.

Derby County beat Portsmouth 0-2 at Fratton Park, and the numbers from the match back up how the game played out. Even without the extra share of possession, which finished 65% in favour of Portsmouth, Derby County made the most of the chances that mattered and did enough to see the game out. The shot count told a similar story, with 21 attempts from Portsmouth against 8 from Derby County over the course of the game. Portsmouth had their moments and did not make it easy from start to finish, but ultimately came up short on the day. Small margins like this one tend to add up over a season, and results such as this are often what separates teams in the table further down the line. Here is a closer look at exactly how the two sides compared, statistically.