Fabio Celestini will take charge of his first game as Burnley boss in Saturday's Championship home clash against Portsmouth.

The Clarets are languishing in 22nd place in the Championship table, while Pompey enter the weekend in 11th position. 

Match preview

Burnley will head into Saturday's fixture with a new head coach after Nicky Hayen was relieved of his duties following a heavy 4-1 away defeat against Lincoln City.

Appointed in the summer, Hayen was tasked with spearheading Burnley's bid to secure an immediate return to the top flight, but instead, he has left the club three points adrift from safety after overseeing one defeat, five draws and six defeats in 12 league games.

The Clarets have since appointed former Basel boss Celestini, who returns to management for the first time since leaving CSKA Moscow in the summer.

In his first job in English football, Celestini will have to lift and improve a side that currently has the Championship's joint-worst defensive record with 25 goals conceded.

Burnley are also one of two teams yet to win a Championship home game this term, having drawn four and lost two of their six outings at Turf Moor.

In fact, the Clarets have gone 21 consecutive home league matches without a win since beating Leeds United 2-0 in a top-flight encounter in October 2025.

Portsmouth have lost just one of their last eight matches since starting the Championship season with three defeats in four games.

John Mousinho's side have put together a four-game unbeaten run, which began with back-to-back wins over Sheffield United and Norwich City.

Terry Devlin then rescued a point in a 1-1 away draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers, before Thomas Waddingham scored his first goal since January 2025 to fire Pompey to a 2-1 win over Millwall at Fratton Park, leaving them just two points adrift of the playoffs.

Pompey now head on their travels with the league's joint-best defensive record on the road, having conceded just five goals in six away games.

However, that defensive resilience has hampered their attacking efforts, given the fact they have failed to score more than one goal in each of their last five road trips.

The south coast side have lost just one of their last eight away league games against Burnley, although their only defeat in that period came on their most recent visit to Turf Moor in September 2024. 

Burnley Championship form:

Portsmouth Championship form:

Team News

Burnley's lengthy injury list features Bashir Humphreys, Jordan Beyer, Zeki Amdouni, Hannibal, Aaron Ramsey and Jacob Bruun Larsen, while Jamie Vardy is a doubt after missing the defeat to Lincoln. 

Like Vardy, Kyle Walker and Armando Broja will need to be assessed after being forced in last Saturday's heavy defeat. 

Josh Cullen and Jaydon Banel are closing in on making their respective returns after recently appearing for the Under-21s, but it remains to be seen whether they will be ready for Saturday's fixture. 

Similar to their hosts, Pompey are also without a whole host of players, with Mousinho unable to call upon Benjamin Arthur, Connor Ogilvie, Mark Kosznovszky, John Swift, Keshi Anderson and Luke Brooke-Smith.

Striker Colby Bishop is set for a spell on the sidelines after his knee injury proved to be worse than initially thought.

There is a possibility Conor Shaughnessy and Josh Murphy could return to the squad following their respective injury issues. 

Burnley possible starting lineup:

Coudert; Roberts, Ekda;, Igor, Pires; Alleyne, Hatate; Edwards, Lauren, Ramazani; Hountondji

Portsmouth possible starting lineup:

Schmid; Swanson, Poole, Dia, Meghoma; Pack, Mohamed; Kamara, Segecic, Kavuma-McQueen; Marezi

We say: Burnley 1-1 Portsmouth

Burnley will be desperate to get off to a winning start under their new head coach, but they face a Portsmouth side that have proven to be a tough team to beat in recent times, and with that in mind, we think the Clarets will have to settle for a point.

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