At least the Pompey gaffer will be pleased that the defensive crisis is easing with Sol Campbell, Lauren and Noe Pamarot all in with a chance to feature tomorrow, although Gary O'Neil looks to have re-aggravated his ankle injury and probably won't feature along with Mendes, Kranjcar and Primus who are all still on the treatment table.
Jose Mourinho will probably hand new signing Juliano Belletti a debut at right back but he still has defensive worries with Carvalho and Bridge out (so no stupid ear-cup celebration to worry about). Ashley Cole is also struggling with a shoulder injury but I expect he'll play.
I also expect Redknapp to play a 4-5-1 formation to try and contain Chelsea and hit them on the break. But why not just go for it?
Let's face it, we're probably going to concede to Chelsea anyway so with their shaky back line (5 goals conceded in 3 games), why not give Benjani and Nugent the license to roam around the Chelsea backline and cause them some hassle?
John Utaka could put the frighteners on the likes of Ashley Cole and Belletti with his pace so if we show no fear, you never know... but with the players Chelsea have got, if we go there with a negative formation then we'll come out empty handed.
Of course, if the 4-5-1 does work then I'll hold my hands up, but I don't expect an un-ambitious side to go to Stamford Bridge and take the points. But still... they have to beaten at home someday don't they?
Predicted Starting Line-Ups
Chelsea
GK: Petr CECH
RB: Julio BELLETTI
CB: Tal BEN HAIM
CB: John TERRY
LB: Ashley COLE
RM: Shaun WRIGHT-PHILLIPS
CM: Michael ESSIEN
CM: Frank LAMPARD
LM: Florent MALOUDA
CF: Dider DROGBA
CF: Salomon KALOU
Bench: Carlo CUDICINI, Lassana DIARRA, John OBI-MIKEL, Joe COLE, Andrei SHEVCHENKO
Pompey
GK: David JAMES
RB: LAUREN
CB: Sol CAMPBELL
CB: Sylvain DISTIN
LB: Hermann HREIDARSSON
RM: John UTAKA
CM: Sean DAVIS
CM: Richard HUGHES
CM: Sulley MUNTARI
LM: Matthew TAYLOR
CF: David NUGENT
Bench: Jamie ASHDOWN, Noe PAMAROT, Arnold MVUEMBA, BENJANI, KANU
Last Time: Chelsea 2 Pompey 1
Andrei Shevchenko opened the scoring with a deflected goal after a goalless first half and then Michael Ballack got his first goal for Chelsea shortly after. Drogba had his goal ruled out for offside before Benjani capitalised on some ping-pong in the box to grab one back but the equaliser wasn't found.
Pundit Watch
Lawro: Home Win (2-0)
Sky Sports: Home Win (2-1)
Soccernet: Draw
Footy-Mad: Home Win
My Prediction: Home Win (2-1)