Portsmouth's Competitive Start in the Championship

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho has barely needed a month in the Championship to reach a firm conclusion: there will be no easy ride for anyone this season.

The Blues have stumbled and surged in equal measure across their opening five games of 2026-27, winning two and losing three to sit 17th in the table. It is not a disastrous start, but it is a reminder of where they are. This is a division bristling with jeopardy at both ends.

Heavyweights have dropped in. West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers, clubs that in recent years looked comfortably bedded into the Premier League, now loom large on the fixture list. On paper, they should bully the league. On the pitch, it already looks very different.

"It's already shown to be a tough and really competitive league," Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent, reflecting on a frantic opening spell of the campaign.

He is not buying the idea that a couple of big names will simply stride away into the distance.

"I don't think there's going to be a pack that run away with it at the top and I don't think there'll be anyone cut off at the bottom."

One game in particular has stuck with him. West Ham’s narrow 3-2 win at Bolton in midweek – a relegated Premier League side pushed all the way by a club that only just climbed out of League One.

"If you look at one of the games last week in Bolton v West Ham you had a really tight game between a side that have come up from League One against one of the relegated sides from the Premier League," Mousinho said, holding it up as a snapshot of the division’s edge.

For Portsmouth, the immediate concern is to turn that competitive chaos to their advantage. They beat Cardiff City last weekend to ease early nerves and now face Charlton Athletic at Fratton Park on Saturday (15:00 BST), a fixture that already carries the feel of a measuring stick.

Charlton arrive with momentum and a head start. Having played one game more, the Addicks sit fifth after winning their opening three matches, adding two draws and a single defeat to underline their strong return to the second tier.

"Charlton have had a really good start," Mousinho admitted.

Like Portsmouth, they worked aggressively in the market over the summer, reshaping their squad for the grind ahead.

"They've had a really busy summer as we have in terms of recruitment in bringing players in, they also had a really good season back in the Championship after their promotion from League One and I fully expect them to build upon that.

"They've had a really strong start to the season and I expect a tough test."

Portsmouth, then, go into the weekend caught between the warning and the opportunity: a league where no one pulls clear, no one gets left behind, and every tight game – like Bolton v West Ham – hints at how fine the margins might be for their entire season.