Premiership Portsmouth v Liverpool

Posted on | April 28, 2007 | 1 Comment

While historically Portsmouth have seen many end of season relegation battles, they are fighting at the other end of the table with Portsmouth one of three teams vying for the final place in Europe. Liverpool on the other hand still need a few points to further cement their third place in the Premiership – four points ahead of fourth placed Arsenal.

While the job is not yet complete in the Premiership, Liverpool have a significant gap over Arsenal and the second leg of their Champions League semi final in mid-week. They have therefore chosen to rest the likes of Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Jose Reina, who have not even travelled with the squad. Xabi Alonso and Daniel Agger travel to the south coast but they seem unlikely to feature significantly.

Portsmouth will hopefully welcome back the power house which is Sol Campbell, and the impressive Linvoy Primus. They are also likely to have Sean Davis and Glen Johnson available, although Svetoslav Todorov is still out with a knee injury, with suspicions that his season may well be over.

While Harry Redknapp has often gone very defensive in away games, they have been more open in their home fixtures. The Fratton Park crowd have often played a big part in Pompey performances of the past, and Redknapp will be looking to push ahead and confirm Portsmouth’s highest ever league finish and biggest points haul in the top league.

Liverpool on the other hand have the Champions League semi-final in their minds, and today’s game seems to be something of a side fixture for the Merseyside’s. While many of their “big game” players have been rested, Rafael Benitez will be looking to complete the game with as few injuries as possible from his squad today. On the pitch it seems that there will be even more pressure on Peter Crouch to deliver the goods, with some of Liverpool’s other natural scorers not featuring today.

Harry Redknapp is a tactical genius and Benitez does not seem to have an awful lot of interest in the game. After weighing up the situation and the differing ambitions of the two teams, do not be surprised to see Pompey continue their march towards Europe.

Forecast : Home Win

Related posts:

1. Portsmouth vs Liverpool preview-7th February
2. Liverpool vs Portsmouth preview
3. Premiership Chelsea v Portsmouth
4. Premiership Portsmouth vs Arsenal
5. Premiership Portsmouth v Bolton

Comments