Portsmouth vs Tottenham Preview

Last updated : 27 September 2008 By Jim Bonner
Pompey will be looking to get back on track as the only Premier League team without a win visit Fratton Park on Sunday afternoon.

Spurs have been a massive disappointment so far this season after the departure of Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov, but Juande Ramos will feel Pompey are for the taking after conceding ten goals in two games.

Harry Redknapp still has problems in midfield with the trio of Davis, Diop and Diarra all injured which means Richard Hughes will start in the centre alongside either Arnold Mvuemba or Younes Kaboul who will be playing against his former club.

Two players who have been passed fit to face their former club are Sol Campbell and Jermain Defoe who will be desperate to make an impact. Armand Traore should return to the side whilst Harry must decide whether to give Glen Little a start or stick with the frustrating John Utaka on the right.

Juande Ramos is likely to stick with the same side that beat troubled Newcastle midweek with Roman Pavlyuchenko promising to build on the goal he scored in that game. Darren Bent will partner him up front and he has an irritating knack of scoring against us so don't be too surprised if he does it again.

I'll admit that there is something about Spurs that annoys me. We can't beat them at White Hart Lane, haven't beaten them since 2004 and always seem to gift them points when they need them most.

I'm hoping that Tony Adams has worked extremely hard on the defence this week. The individual errors need to be stopped whilst David James needs to regain his confidence if we're to win this game as I think we have enough up front to cause Tottenham's shaky defence problems.

Defeat for either side tomorrow would really damage the prospects for the season and considering neither side can defend you can expect a frantic encounter at Fratton Park with goals at both ends.

Predicted Starting Line-Ups

Pompey

GK: David JAMES

RB: Glen JOHNSON
CB: Sol CAMPBELL
CB: Sylvain DISTIN
LB: Nadir BELHADJ

RM: John UTAKA
CM: Richard HUGHES
CM: Younes KABOUL
LM: Armand TRAORE

CF: Jermain DEFOE
CF: Peter CROUCH

Tottenham

GK: Heurelho GOMES

RB: Vedran CORLUKA
CB: Jonathan WOODGATE
CB: Ledley KING
LB: Benoit ASSOU-EKOTTO

RM: David BENTLEY
CM: Didier ZOKORA
CM: Jermaine JENAS
LM: Gareth BALE

CF: Darren BENT
CF: Roman PAVLYUCHENKO

Last Time: Pompey 0 Tottenham Hotspur 1

Pompey slumped to their first home defeat of the season thanks to a late strike by Dimitar Berbatov in a game where the home side just didn't get going.

Pundit Watch

Lawro: Home Win (2-1)
Sky Sports: Away Win (1-2)
Soccernet: Away Win
Merson: Draw (1-1)

My Prediction: Spurs have finally got a win under their belt and I just wonder how much our confidence has been affected by conceding ten goals in two games. Given how we like to gift Tottenham points when they really need them, I have a really bad feeling about this...

Pompey 1 Tottenham 2