A lot of
people will think that third place against 20th will mean
only one thing, but in this case, it is unlikely to be as
straight-forward as that. And there are a few reasons
why.
Firstly,
there is the Pompey generated hatred towards Spurs.
Not content with blaming Tottenham for stealing their
manager (who Tottenham paid good money for), they seem to
think there is a one way stream of traffic of players to
White Hart Lane, with Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch and Niko
Kranjcar making the journey to North London. The
perilous financial state of the Portsmouth finances did for
Harry Redknapp and their twice bought in the space of a
couple of weeks club are now supposedly on firmer financial
ground.
But the abuse
Harry got on his return to receive the Freedom of Portsmouth
shortly after moving to Spurs might indicate that the home
fans will not forget or forgive. In addition, the
former Portsmouth player swill no doubt get some stick and I
for one, hope that it doesn't get out of hand, as the Police
in that part of the world are very hot ion identifying fans
who step out of line.
Lest that we
should forget ourselves, the transfer trail to Portsmouth
from N17 has not exactly been lightly trodden. Pedro
Mendes, Sean Davis, Noe Pamarot, Kevin Prince Boateng,
Younes Kaboul and Jamie Redknapp (currently on loan, so not
eligible to play in this match) have all made Fratton Park
their new home. So there will be an incentive there to
show the Spurs fans what they can do, but it is now a
manager or two down the line since they moved on (apart from
Boateng).
And there is
the small fact of Portsmouth having won their first league
match of the season last time out, at the eighth time of
asking. Luckily the international break came at the
right time and it might be tougher to get their rhythm back,
whereas a game straight after the win might have had them
more focused on carrying on that run. The introduction
of the experienced Avram Grant adds some assistance to the
beleaguered manager Paul Hart.
The side are
a rag bag of small money transfers and players that the club
managed to hang on to, but it was not only Spurs raiding
them, but Distin has gone to Manchester City, Glen Johnson
to Liverpool, Sean Davis to Bolton and a number of players
that they released to get them off the wage bill.
What is left
is David James in goal, who, on his day, can be tough to
beat, but when it is not his day makes life easier for the
opposition. Talk of him coming to Tottenham in January
might make him put in a performance to impress Harry.
At the back, Younes Kaboul has been solid in the air,
especially in the opposition box and he has been deployed in
midfield more often.
Tal Ben Haim
and Belhadj have been playing well, but both are not quite
out of the top drawer, so are prone to mistakes, which the
Spurs forward might thrive on. Anthony vanden Borre
has come in from Belgium, but may still be sorting out what
English football is all about. Steve Finnan has been
brought back to England from Spain to give some experience
to the back four, but he has been troubled by injury, as has
Aaron Mokoena, who is another defender who has been around
and signed from Blackburn. Watford defender Mike
Williamson has been snapped up and he might find the Premier
League a different kettle of fish.
Richard
Hughes has been with the club for quite a while, but has not
made the impact that was once thought after he joined
Juventus as a junior. Their will be fight in the
midfield, as Michael Brown got to Fratton Park from Spurs
via Fulham and Wigan and will want to make his mark in the
match. Hassan Yebda scored the winning goal at
Molineux, so he can be expected to keep his place, but I
know little of him. Bouba Papa Diop is still there,
with a big presence in midfield and Hayden Mullins might
play in the middle to add some energy to the midfield, with
Boateng there for his passing and lining with the attack.
Frederic
Piquionne, John Utaka, Tommy Smith and Kanu are options up
front, as among other departures in the attacking sense,
Crouch and Defoe left and having let David Nugent leave to
go on loan at Burnley, the South Coast team are slightly
bereft of forwards. Piquionne is finding his feet,
while Tommy Smith has played in the top league with Watford
and Derby, but not with any great success. Kanu is
old, even by his own standards, so might not be able to do
it any more. That might be why they brought in Danny
Webber on a free.
Spurs have
been good against the bigger teams, without any luck and
have had to deal with the clubs at the bottom of the table
in a way we are a little unused to. But Harry has had
it planned out well so far and his knowledge of the
Portsmouth side will help his preparation for this match.
With options
and Ledley and Woody maybe back for this match, the side he
fields and the changes he can make from the bench should
give Tottenham the winning edge, although expect Pompey's
best effort of the season so far ...
PREDICTION :
- Portsmouth 1 Tottenham Hotspur
2
For more information on
the opponents and their history, including full result history of
matches between the two teams, click
here.
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