Newcastle United seem to go from one crisis to another and once again a season that promised so much has managed to go tits-up in a way that only Newcastle United knows how. I wasn't the only one who was surprised when Joe Kinnear was announced as their new manager but the Geordies have shown some fight in recent weeks.
However, the Toon are still struggling and currently occupy a place in the bottom three. They have drawn their last four games and whilst their last away point was a very good one at Chelsea, their last home game ended in a way Pompey fans are all too familiar with.
2-0 up and cruising against Stoke only to blow it and draw 2-2 after a poor second half. Pompey have had a knack of doing this at Fratton Park this season so even if we're 2-0 up at any point in the match tomorrow, I won't be thinking the points are in the bag.
Tony Adams must make do without Papa Bouba Diop who is banned after picking up his 5th yellow card at West Brom last week, so Richard hughes is likely to deputise in his place alongside Sean Davis. Armand Traore is still struggling to be fit so Nadir Belhadj will continue to play at left midfield despite looking knackered last week.
Joe Kinnear can call upon Nicky Butt and Danny Guthrie despite injury scares to take their place in the centre of midfield. Their battle against Hughes and Davis should be interesting to say the least, expect at least one of them to receive an early card for Christmas....
Damien Duff could also feature for the Magpies but Pompey fans will not be able to throw some abuse at Joey Barton because of his suspension.
Despite their lowly position in the table I'm expecting a tough game, not neccessarily because Newcastle are particularly strong but because our defense just hasn't looked settled or comfortable at all this season and with the likes of Michael Owen on the pitch, we'll probably concede again.
But then Newcastle's defence is awful and so I expect Defoe and Crouch to give them a torrid time. If we can beat the Toon tomorrow then we will leap back into 7th place and a gap between us and the bottom half will start to open up, so we need to win if we have ambitions of qualifying for Europe again.
Predicted Starting Line-Ups
Pompey
GK: David JAMES
RB: Glen JOHNSON
CB: Sylvain DISTIN
CB: Sol CAMPBELL
LB: Noe PAMAROT
RM: Niko KRANJCAR
CM: Sean DAVIS
CM: Richard HUGHES
LM: Nadir BELHADJ
CF: Jermain DEFOE
CF: Peter CROUCH
Newcastle
GK: Shay GIVEN
RB: Habib BEYE
CB: Steven TAYLOR
CB: Sebastien BASSONG
LB: JOSE ENRIQUE
RM: Jonas GUTIERREZ
CM: Nicky BUTT
CM: Danny GUTHRIE
LM: Damien DUFF
CF: Obafemi MARTINS
CF: Michael OWEN
Last Time: Pompey 0 Newcastle United 0
Michael Owen had a close range header saved by the afro of David James as Pompey drew yet another home game without scoring.
Pundit Watch
Lawro: Home Win (2-0)
Sky Sports: Draw (1-1)
Soccernet: Home Win
Paul Merson: Home Win (3-1)
My Prediction: I can't rely on our defence to keep out the likes of Owen or Martins, but with Newcastle's own back line so shoddy I think we can outscore them.
Pompey 2 Newcastle United 1