Finally, we get to play a game of football following the awful weather last Saturday. Has the break helped or hindered us? We shall find out tommorow at Craven Cottage.
Make no mistake about it, going to Fulham will be no easy task. They boast one of the most impressive home forms in the league, similar to ours of two seasons ago and their last scalp there happened to be Chelsea, by far the best team in the league. If that wasn't enough they also have the likes of Wayne "Scummer" Bridge and Luis "Scummer" Boa Morte who always seem to annoy us whenever we play them, especially the former. Whether the loss of Antti "Scummer" Neimi is a boost for us I'm not sure. Usually he is one of the Premierships best 'keepers however try telling that to Pompey fans who saw his last "performance" against the Blue Army.
Not that the task is impossible. Fulhams defence are equally as bad as ours having conceded the same amount of goals and we have Sean Davis; a former Fulham stalwert in our ranks now so don't bet against him getting a winner against his former club. This has the makings of a good game despite the dour game back on New Years Eve where we pinched a win.
Dejan Stefanovic is likely to start tommorow. So either Andy O'Brien or Brian Priske will make way for him. Nothing against O'Brien but Priske has been great since his return to the first team, and we all know that Linvoy plays better in the centre than on the right. The other selection dilemma is whether Toddy actually gets the starting place he deserves or not. If Benjani does play however, let's not get on his back eh? He has to come up with something eventually and tommorow would be a great time to get your debut goal against a leaky defence.
I would take a point tommorow if the other results go our way, and they should with Birmingham at home to Chelsea in the early kick off and West Brom hosting Liverpool in the evening so the chance to capitalise is there. However some pundits have predicted us to win which is never a good sign (see Pundit Watch below) and we could always cock this one up. However I'm quietly confident we can take something from this game and you should be too!
Should we win this game it will be the first time we've won three in a row since April two seasons ago when we saw off Birmingham, Manchester United and Leeds consecutively which then saw us virtually safe.
On a final note, should we hand Fulham a 5-0 pasting and Liverpool give West Brom a hammering of 4-0 then we will jump out of the relegation zone for the first time since November if my memory serves me correctly so if you're an optimistic betting man or a fool...
Pundit Watch
Lawro: Away Win (1-2)
Townsend: Draw (1-1)
Sky Sports: Away Win (1-2)
Soccernet: Home Win
Make no mistake about it, going to Fulham will be no easy task. They boast one of the most impressive home forms in the league, similar to ours of two seasons ago and their last scalp there happened to be Chelsea, by far the best team in the league. If that wasn't enough they also have the likes of Wayne "Scummer" Bridge and Luis "Scummer" Boa Morte who always seem to annoy us whenever we play them, especially the former. Whether the loss of Antti "Scummer" Neimi is a boost for us I'm not sure. Usually he is one of the Premierships best 'keepers however try telling that to Pompey fans who saw his last "performance" against the Blue Army.
Not that the task is impossible. Fulhams defence are equally as bad as ours having conceded the same amount of goals and we have Sean Davis; a former Fulham stalwert in our ranks now so don't bet against him getting a winner against his former club. This has the makings of a good game despite the dour game back on New Years Eve where we pinched a win.
Dejan Stefanovic is likely to start tommorow. So either Andy O'Brien or Brian Priske will make way for him. Nothing against O'Brien but Priske has been great since his return to the first team, and we all know that Linvoy plays better in the centre than on the right. The other selection dilemma is whether Toddy actually gets the starting place he deserves or not. If Benjani does play however, let's not get on his back eh? He has to come up with something eventually and tommorow would be a great time to get your debut goal against a leaky defence.
I would take a point tommorow if the other results go our way, and they should with Birmingham at home to Chelsea in the early kick off and West Brom hosting Liverpool in the evening so the chance to capitalise is there. However some pundits have predicted us to win which is never a good sign (see Pundit Watch below) and we could always cock this one up. However I'm quietly confident we can take something from this game and you should be too!
Should we win this game it will be the first time we've won three in a row since April two seasons ago when we saw off Birmingham, Manchester United and Leeds consecutively which then saw us virtually safe.
On a final note, should we hand Fulham a 5-0 pasting and Liverpool give West Brom a hammering of 4-0 then we will jump out of the relegation zone for the first time since November if my memory serves me correctly so if you're an optimistic betting man or a fool...
Pundit Watch
Lawro: Away Win (1-2)
Townsend: Draw (1-1)
Sky Sports: Away Win (1-2)
Soccernet: Home Win