Is Southampton v Portsmouth on TV? Why is south-coast derby at 12pm? Tickets and how to watch showdown
Pompey face Southampton in the first south-coast derby of the season this Sunday.
Why is Southampton v Pompey at midday?
John Mousinho’s men take on their south-coast rivals at St Mary’s this weekend, with the action set to get underway at 12pm on Sunday
Like the 2025-26 encounters, the hotly-anticipated showdown has been moved to midday on the Sunday for policing reasons as well as for television broadcasting.
Sky Sports have once again selected the contest for live coverage, with the action also available on free-to-air television for supporters on ITV.
Can I get tickets?
There are no tickets available to Pompey fans, with their St Mary’s allocation quickly snapped up.
A slight reduction in tickets from both clubs this season will now see 2,500 members of the Fratton faithful making the short trip along the M27 in club-arranged coaches.
Southampton, meanwhile, have also sold out their home allocation and will be boosted by the FA’s verdict on Tonda Eckert’s Spygate hearing, which saw the German given the green light to take charge of the derby.
Is the game on TV?
Pompey’s trip to St Mary’s will be televised for supporters who were unable to purchase tickets for the contest.
There will be a choice of viewing, with Sky Sports showing the fixture on their ‘Main Event’ and ‘Plus’ channels. With an hour's worth of build-up, there will be studio analysis, pundit opinions, interviews as well as post-match reaction.
Fans who don’t have Sky Sports can tune into the action by purchasing a NOW TV day pass for £14 and will also have a selection of Sky’s 11 other sports channels.
The south-coast derby will also be played free-to-air, with ITV holding rights to broadcast selected Championship matches.
Supporters are able to tune in on ITV1 from 11.30am and catch all the build-up, action and reaction with pundits and analysis. Meanwhile, fans who are on the go can stream the game on ITVX, STV and STV Player.
The Fratton faithful can also follow every Pompey game live on Pompey+, the club’s official streaming platform.
UK-based fans can purchase an audio match pass for full live commentary. Overseas supporters can buy a video match pass to watch the game live.
Simply visit: www.portsmouthfc.co.uk/videos/subscriptions and select Match Passes - options will automatically appear based on your location.
The News will, as usual, be providing extensive online coverage, with team news, live blog, match report, player ratings as well as player and manager reaction stories.
Team news
Injuries have heavily affected Pompey’s start to the new Championship campaign, which has seen a number of key personnel miss the opening seven games.
Summer arrival Marezi was sidelined for the final two matches before the international break due to a minor calf issue, which was sustained during the 2-0 win over Cardiff City last month.
Meanwhile, Shaughnessy was withdrawn in the 63rd minute of the 2-2 draw against Blackburn Rovers in the final game before the stoppage due to a groin problem.
The head coach also insisted Pompey will not rush Keshi Anderson’s return, despite completing his comeback to training before the international break.
The 31-year-old has been out of action for three months after tearing his quad during the Blues’ Ireland pre-season training camp in July.
The game will also come too soon for Josh Murphy, who has been pencilled in to complete his much-anticipated return from a groin issue later this month.
However, there will be no Connor Ogilvie (knee), Thomas Waddingham (ankle), Franco Umeh (hamstring), Mark Kosznovszky (knee) and Luke Brooke-Smith (ankle) at St Mary’s, with the quintet continuing their respective recoveries.
Southampton, meanwhile, will have a fully-fit squad to choose from for the derby, with Caspar Jander poised to complete his comeback.
The midfielder has missed the opening weeks of the campaign with a muscle injury sustained in pre-season and Eckert has pencilled in the 23-year-old to feature against Pompey.
The frontman suffered a minor back problem while on duty for Canada, with the setback forcing him to return early from the camp.
Goalkeeper Daniel Peretz will also be fit for the south-coast derby, having recovered from a groin issue which saw him withdraw from the Israel squad in the three-week break.
Referee
The EFL announced earlier in the week that Adam Herczeg will be the man in the middle at St Mary’s and will be joined by assistants Bhups Singh Gill and Alistair Nelson
Meanwhile, Ruebyn Ricardo will be in charge of touchline proceedings, which became feisty between Mousinho and ex-Southampton boss Will Still in last season’s fixture.