Palermo had a 2-1 win over Napoli last night to get me back on track though there were a few tricky moments along the way.
Today I am back on more familiar turf and looking at the สล็อต 888 match between Portsmouth and Manchester City.
Both teams have started the season better then even their most ardent fans could have hoped for and are deservedly among the top 6.
Portsmouth sit 6th in the league with a home record that reads won 2 drawn 3 lost 0 scored 11 and conceded 4 but that does not tell the whole tale as in those games they have drawn 1-1 with Man Utd in a match most neutrals felt Pompey should have won, they then beat Bolton 3-1drew 0-0 with Liverpool in a game where they missed a penalty beat Reading 7-4 in one of the most entertaining games in the league this season and in their last home game drew 0-0 with West Ham. So as you can see the opposition has been tough and indeed they have had an extremely hard start to the campaign.
Manchester City on the other hand sit 3rd in the league but this is due in no small part to their superb record at home where they are 7 from 7, on the road however their record is not so good with 1 win 1 draw and 3 defeats scoring 5 and conceding 11.
Their away record in the league consists of an away win 2-0 at West Ham on the opening day of the season followed by a 1-0 defeat at Arsenal in a game where they were unfortunate not to get a point (coming from an ardent Gooner that is praise indeed!), a 1-0 loss at Blackburn, a 3-3 draw at Fulham before their last away game at Chelsea where they lost 6-0 on a day when there defence fell apart.
The price of evens a Portsmouth with is appealing to me especially given the fact that they are 2nd only to Manchester United in the 6 game form league with 4 wins and 2 draws though take out the City thumping at Chelsea their form has been reasonable also.
I feel that Portsmouth have enough firepower up front with the likes of a reborn Benjani ably supported b the likes of Utaka and Muntari to break down a City defence that though they managed a 1-0 win at home to Sunderland in their last league game may still be vulnerable away from home.
The head to head record in all competitions in the last 10 games also favours Portsmouth today with 4 wins out of the last 5 played at Fratton Park between the 2 sides.
Feb 10, 07 Premiership Portsmouth FC 2 – 1 Manchester City
Aug 23, 06 Premiership Manchester City 0 – 0 Portsmouth FC
Mar 11, 06 Premiership Portsmouth FC 2 – 1 Manchester City
Aug 27, 05 Premiership Manchester City 2 – 1 Portsmouth FC
Apr 30, 05 Premiership Manchester City 2 – 0 Portsmouth FC
Nov 20, 04 Premiership Portsmouth FC 1 – 3 Manchester City
Jan 10, 04 Premiership Portsmouth FC 4 – 2 Manchester City
Aug 23, 03 Premiership Manchester City 1 – 1 Portsmouth FC
Apr 21, 02 Championships… Manchester City 3 – 1 Portsmouth FC
Nov 17, 01 Championship… Portsmouth FC 2 – 1 Manchester City
Early team news is that Hermann Hreidarsson is hopeful of returning to Portsmouth’s defence after recovering from a groin injury, but Papa Bouba Diop serves a one-match ban whilst City are without Michael Johnson, who faces groin surgery and at least three weeks on the sidelines, but on the positive side Micah Richards is set to return.
So for me a Portsmouth win at Evens will hopefully end the weekend in the right way.
Good Luck,