Portsmouth 1, Leicester 0, Positives and Negatives, Player Ratings and Match Report, Championship Fixture

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A number of changes were made to the starting line-up. As we thought a starting position to Hamza Choudhury, replacing Oliver Skipp. Gary Rowett also gave a rare start to Bobby De Cordova-Reid, lining up the two full internationals alongside Harry Winks in that midfield three.

Asmir Begovic taking over from Jakub Stolarczyk, something we believe was again a very wrong decision and might have cost Leicester a point today. Asmir Begovic is in no way the better goalkeeper. He is a player close to 40, not playing regularly. He is not the ideal in this job at this point.

Replacing Jakub Stolarczyk with Asmir Begovic will cost you range and agility. Both are terrible in distribution and lack football understanding. We can all see that Gary Rowett is uncertain about his options. None of the two give you something extra.

The game was a tight affair. Leicester looked solid in the back. With that extra fighting ability from midfield, with Hamza Choudhury in there, gave the team more spirit. Hamza is a midfielder who can do that job at Championship level. He showed his value first half.

Patson Daka was close to getting a penalty, but no whistle heard. Portsmouth used their physique and fought much more for every ball. Leicester have highly skilled players, but in some way no rhythm and few passing options. Not enough interaction between players to build up those pockets to play in and create chances with special moves. It looks difficult. Not enough creativity to create those chances to score.

Defeat at Fratton Park.#PORLEI | @BCGame pic.twitter.com/c0gSv07qUw
— Leicester City (@LCFC) April 18, 2026

There were little or not much more happening first half, few attempt from both sides, most of the game being battled out in midfield and as we said, Lascelles, Vestergaard, Thomas and Pereira looked to control everything in front of Begovic.

Then in the 63rd minute the game came to a settlement. Luke Thomas and Bobby De Cordova-Reid tried to hold on to their much stronger and heavier Portsmouth opponents. But if you look away from the ball and instead just watch your opponent you will miss every aspect of a situation. That was excactly what happened and Ibane Bowatt scored from close range. Asmir Begovic showed why he is not a goalkeeper to trust at this level anymore, not coming out to clear the ball, instead he waited and the ball went in behind him.

Gary Rowett took out Hamza Choudhury and Bobby De Cordova-Reid a few minutes later, and then in real giving the two new men in the starting line-up the feeling of mistake as they both were subbed off. In fact blaming the two for the goal scored, giving Jordan James and Divine Mukasa a few minutes towards the end.

Jordan Ayew and Olabade Aluko came on later in the game, again leaving Joe Aribo on the bench without minutes after talking him up as a good footballer. What a useless statement to make, when you do not use the player at all in the game.

Leicester had soft attempts, and could have scored, but they do not have the energy in this team to win football matches. Portsmouth pulled themselves out of the relegation zone, with this win. Leicester looks down at the minute with 8 points away from safety with 3 games left to play. One straw of hope is the fact that West Bromwich can be given points deductions and of course having that game left at Ewood Park on the last day of the season, hoping for a chance to stay up with a win on the 2nd of May.

Positives

An honest attempt from Gary Rowett to make some type of change
First half looked good enough to get all three points

Negatives

Again letting in a goal from a set piece situation
The talk of Joe Aribo in front of the game, leavng the player in the freezer again
Divine Mukase showing no effort to play to the best for the team
This was a must win game, but it never looked like Leicester had the ability to manage that
Gary Rowett has no plan and no set up that will work, not willing to change formation and looks far from equipped to get this team out of problems, as he managed with Oxford last season. He never managed to get this group back on track with a troubled time at the club
The behaviour of Harry Winks after the game shows his lack of understanding in what it is to be a footballer and not performing to standards in line with the salary earned

Line Up:
Begovic 3, Pereira 5, Vestergaard 5, Lascelles 5, Thomas 5, Winks 4, De Cordova-Reid 4, Choudhury 6, Daka 5, Mavididi 3, Fatawu 3, Subs: James, Aluko, Ayew, Mukasa