With nearly half their goals conceded this season from set-pieces, BBC Sport looks at why have Portsmouth struggled with them.
Conceding goals from set-pieces have been a constant struggle for Portsmouth this season.
They let in three from corners in Sunday's 4-1 FA Cup defeat by Arsenal - arguably the current masters of a dead-ball situation - to raise further frustration and questions around their ability to deal with them.
So far this campaign across all competitions 19 of Portsmouth's 41 conceded goals have come from set-pieces.
Twelve from corners, four from free-kicks, one from a direct free-kick shot, one from a throw-in and one penalty kick.
With these goals coming so often and Portsmouth's inability to deal with them, external pressure is growing on the coaching group and specifically first-team coach Michael Doyle who joined in the summer with a focus on set-pieces.
So, after another loss on Sunday that saw dead-ball situations play a major role in the result, what did head coach John Mousinho learn from coming up against arguably the best in the business?
"Arsenal's delivery was excellent as well as the way they attack the ball and we didn't match them," Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent.
"We were a little too static and not aggressive enough, whether that is something we can get out of the current players or if it's something we need to think about adding to [the squad] in January is a really good question.
"Set-pieces are a part of the game so we have to be better at them, going into the league next week we have to be a lot better with it."
Blocks, clever play and wanting it more
In setting up for corners, Pompey tend to do a mix of zonal and man-to-man marking, having a small formation of players closer to the goal while others account for a man each in and around the edge of the box.
Out of the 12 conceded from corners this season there is not always a recurring theme but there are some examples that repeat themselves.
Norwich's first goal in August and QPR's second-half equaliser at Fratton Park on Boxing Day both involved clever blocking routines by the opposition that caught Portsmouth out.
For Harry Darling's Canaries goal, two Norwich players got in between Conor Shaughnessy and Andre Dozzell, who were stood either side of Darling, parting the way for the defender to effectively have a free header as the ball was played in from a free-kick.
During the QPR game, Colby Bishop was initially tasked with marking Jimmy Dunne but an R's team-mate who was marking Dozzell managed to put himself between Bishop and Dunne with the latter then able to escape his marker and head the ball home to level the game up.
Spot the weakness
A number of the goals conceded from set plays also come down to the opposition player outmuscling the defender and getting to it first.
Examples are Christoph Klarer's goal in the loss to Birmingham City or Josh Sargent's lunging header at Fratton Park in August.
In Sunday's FA Cup tie, all three of the goals that came from corners were all structured in similar ways by Arsenal.
For the first-half equaliser, Gabriel Martinelli was able to run from the back post to the front of the Portsmouth zonal marking area - which most times was taken up by Conor Chaplin and Colby Bishop - and get there first to win a flick-on which led to the goal.
For both of his headed goals, the Brazilian made an almost identical run towards the front post and was able to leap before glancing the ball into the net.
For the third, Bishop got tighter to his man in an attempt to prevent the same thing happening but he was not quick enough for the winger who just got there first and nodded home for his hat-trick.
The decline in ability to defend set-pieces has not been something that Portsmouth have always struggled with.
In their 2023-24 promotion season from League One, Pompey were a real threat from these situations and looked solid at the back.
The Blues have had six different centre-back partnerships this season, the most popular one has been Josh Knight and Regan Poole who have played eight games together.
"Two years ago when Portsmouth won League One they were set-piece experts," BBC Radio Solent's Portsmouth commentator Andrew Moon said.
"They were winning a number of matches with late goals from corners, most notably against Barnsley to seal the title.
"Unsurprisingly they found things tougher last season in the Championship and the goals dried up although they remain pretty solid at the back.
"However this season it's been a constant weakness they simply have not been able to address.
"There's been rotation in the back-line but it doesn't seem to have made a huge difference who plays, the set piece goals keep being conceded.
"It's difficult to see Pompey staying up if they cannot fix the issue."
Defensive injuries and a lack of quality cover have had a part to play this season with Portsmouth and their defending in general, not just set-pieces.
Goalkeeper Nicholas Schmid missed a significant part of the campaign through injury as well as key defender Shaughnessy who has just returned after a hamstring issue had him sidelined.
Centre-backs Hayden Matthews and Josh Knight are expected to be out for a significant period while Jordan Williams and Zak Swanson have been filling in and out of position across both full-back roles.
A lack of consistency in the back-line may well have hindered Pompey and their efforts to be more defensively solid and Mousinho has teased that they may look to strengthen that department this month.
Only eight other Championship sides have conceded more league goals than the Blues this season, and along with the second lowest goal scoring record in the division, it has contributed to them dropping down the table to within one point of the relegation zone.
"It's very frustrating, we know we need to do better," Shaughnessy told BBC Radio Solent.
"It's something we need to improve on and we will address ahead of the next league game and going forward into the rest of the Championship season."
Despite the precarious position and being just one point above the drop zone, Pompey have a chance to boost themselves up the table on Saturday when they face bottom side Sheffield Wednesday.
Not only are the Owls winless since 20 September - when they stunned Pompey 2-0 at Fratton Park - but they are the only team in the Championship to have conceded more goals than Mousinho's side from set-pieces.
Category: General Sports
