England, Premier League:Portsmouth FC – Blackburn Rovers (Sun 30 Nov, '08, 16:00)
Blackburn is going to win this one, and current odds around 4.00 are just too good to be missed - they'll sure drop towards the game.
Last season we saw Blackburn one place above Portsmouth at 7th position in England's Premier League, now they are down in 19th position while Portsmouth is still on 8th. But things are going to change...
This Sunday the Rovers travel south to Portsmouth after they got beaten in Tottenham. But what a game it was: Blackburn played beautiful soccer, I'd say, there was some great action. Tottenham got lucky to get away with a 1:0 win, while Blackburn played from 39th minute on with just 10 men, since defender Martin Olsson was sent off. However, they had some nice chances and never gave up. Blackburn manager Paul Ince after the match: »We played some good stuff against a very good Tottenham side at their ground and we silenced their crowd for most of the game. The effort put in was unbelievable, the performance was outstanding. I thought we were going to salvage something. Had the ball been in the right place we would have got a point.« Well, well...
Portsmouth will come into the game after an UEFA Cup match against AC Milan and they will have to play Germany's VfL Wolfsburg soon after on December 4th in that very same European Cup contest. I can't imagine them concentrating everything against Blackburn. Additional to other injured players their leading striker will be out for some time, as it seems: 26-year-old Jermain Defoe (7 goals) might need surgery as his calf injury got worse. Without him Peter Crouch might look just too lonely up front. Blackburn will know their chances, as they did in the last two games when playing in Portsmouth: They won both.
The Rovers will have to play next in Manchester against United (League Cup) and afterwards against Liverpool (Premier League) at home, and so I await them to perform well against Portsmouth.
Especially Roque Santa Cruz should be good enough for a goal, if not for two.
I will have more detailed team news here later - but the Blackburn Rovers stay most definitely to be the bet in this one against Portsmouth, for value odds.
EDIT: TEAM NEWS
Portsmouth's striker Jermain Defoe and midfielder Niko Kranjcar have shaken off calf and ankle injuries respectively and are back in contention for Portsmouth. Skipper Sol Campbell (toe) is likely to miss out again, as is Kanu who picked up a groin injury in the 2-2 draw with AC Milan, but David Nugent returns.
Blackburn's Martin Olsson is suspended but Stephen Warnock has served a ban and will slot in at left-back.
Vince Grella is likely to remain sidelined with a calf problem.
Source: BBC Sports
RESULT: Portsmouth 3:2 Blackburn
No comments:
Post a Comment