Chesterfield vs Portsmouth Prediction and Betting Tips: Expect goals in the 12:15pm televised FA Cup first round tie

Live on ITV1 on Sunday at 12:15pm, two of England's divisional leaders meet in the FA Cup first round as National League Chesterfield invite League One Portsmouth to the SMH Group Stadium.

Chesterfield have accumulated 44 points in the National League, two points better than any other side, having lost just one of their 17 matches in the division. They've won four games on the spin heading into this fixture, and with home advantage over their League One counterparts, Paul Cook's side will be imbued with belief of an upset on Sunday.

Portsmouth are yet to taste defeat this term, beating 10 of their 15 third tier opponents and drawing their additional five matches. Pompey aren't the division's top scorers, but they have conceded four fewer goals than any other side. John Mousinho will eye reaching the third round at a minimum in this competition, but will be fully aware of the live threat that Chesterfield pose this weekend.

There's a bit of extra spice added to this occasion, with Paul Cook receiving a visit from the club he managed and helped steer into League One by winning the L2 title in the 2016/17 season, joyous celebrations of which the club have not seen again since.

The unsturdy nature of FA Cup ties, especially those where the favourites are forced to travel to their underdog opponents, is steering us away from the match result market and instead guiding us to backing goals in Derbyshire.

Chesterfield are the National League leaders and top scorers, having hit 43 goals in 17 league fixtures, striking 17 past their opponents across the last five matches. Paul Cook's side have a free hit against Football League opposition and the usual benefits of a lower league side holding home advantage applies here.

Only three teams have outscored Portsmouth in League One, with seven of their matches hitting this goals line. On these seven occasions, Pompey have struck three or more goals themselves. 13 of last season's FA Cup first round fixtures saw four or more goals, while eight of these involved at least one non-league team, including Portsmouth's clash 3-1 win over Hereford. So whether punters fancy a basketball match or a dominant display from the favourites, backing over 3.5 goals holds weight.

Portsmouth's Colby Bishop is the visitors' main threat, but with such a short price for him to notch on Sunday, we're siding with the 26-year-old to hit a brace against his side's non-league adversaries.

He has nine goals from 15 league starts this season, hitting a brace in Portsmouth's clash with Port Vale at the beginning of October. Bishop's tally of 20 goals in League One last term was only outshone by Conor Chaplin, Jonson Clarke-Harris and David McGoldrick, working out at a goals per game average of almost 1 in 2 for him.

The former Accrington Stanley man struck four braces across the previous campaign, one coming in the second round of this competition against MK Dons, leaving him with nine occasions of having scored two goals in a single game since joining Portsmouth in 2019. Sunday's opponents have shipped more goals than three other sides in the National League, leaving them susceptible to a ruthless forward like Bishop in front of the TV cameras.