Pompey face the Black Cats in an important match for two teams that have really been struggling lately. Portsmouth are coming off their 3rd straight loss and
Sunderland are winless in their past 11 matches.
Portsmouth last loss was by an incredible 5 goal margin to Manchester United. Twice Pompey scored on their own goal to increase the Red Devils lead. As a result, Portsmouth are 7 points at rock bottom and really must win this home match if they are to have any chance of survival. After defeating Sunderland in January Pompey are still in the FA Cup, but
Avram Grant will be concentrated solely on keeping his team in the Premiership. The new manager will probably rotate some of his players as they will be in poor spirits after the 5-0 loss to United. Aaron Mokoena, Tommy Smith, John Utaka, Herman Hreidarson, Papa Bouba Diop and Michael Brown will remain sidelined with injuries for this match. It is crunch-time for Portsmouth, so expect Avram Grant to send his squad out with guns blazing.
After a positive start to the season,
Sunderland went on a run of 11 winless matches and are now only 4 points clear of relegation danger. Their last 2 matches were played at home against weaker opponents (Stoke City, Wigan Athletic), but the Black Cats were unable to maximize points and drew both. They now face a much more difficult task in travelling south to Portsmouth, who will be determined to get 3 points from this match. Sunderland are 1-2-9 on the road, so their record will not inspire confidence in the players.
Steve Bruce will be hoping to get a point at best, but knows that his team will likely need to score in order to do so. Bruce will start with a defensive formation and hope to score on the counterattack, but if Portsmouth sneak one past them the match should open up more. The manager has some selection problems with the recent injury of
Jordan Henderson and long time injuries of John Mensah, Anton Ferdinand and Kieran Richardson.
These teams met just two weeks ago in the FA Cup and
Portsmouth was able to finish the job in the first leg with a 2-1 victory. The stakes are considerably higher here, so don't expect this to be a shy game for either team. When either team scores the game will be wide open, so expect many goals by the full time whistle.
Portsmouth vs. Sunderland
Tuesday January 9, 2010
Kickoff: 8:45 PM (CET)
Venue: Fratton Park (Portsmouth)
Tip: Over 2.5 Goals
Best Odds: 2.10 @ Tipico
