Arsenal V Portsmouth

English Premiership 2009/2010

Arsenal V Portsmouth

Kick-Off: Saturday 15:00 GMT 

Venue: The Emirates

Two teams with very contrasting starts to the new Premiership season as Paul Hart has the unenviable task of reviving the Portsmouth ranks from what looks a club destined to suffer a dreadful season. Arsenal on the other hand couldn’t of wished for a better start and finished week 1 as top dog’s after smashing Everton for six at Goodison Park. Will Arsenal have it all their own way in their opening home fixture of the season who will Portsmouth put up a fight?

Arsene Wenger and Arsenal certainly had their critics before the start of the season, mainly down to their lack of well known signings during the summer, but their 6-1 drubbing of Everton had the doubters running for the hills with Wenger claiming there is still more to come from the ‘Kids’. It’s pretty safe to say that Everton were nothing short of abysmal on the day but all credit to Arsenal who made them look that way with some mouthwatering football at times. However, two of Arsenal’s goals did come from a surprising source as William Gallas and Thomas Vermaelen both scored from set-pieces after some lacklustre defending from Everton and, despite a sensational result at Goodison, we wouldn’t get too carried away just yet.

Arsenal did back up their humbling of Everton at the weekend with a comprehensive victory away at Celtic in their crucial qualifier for The Champions League, securing a 2-0 victory in Scotland. Their two goals against the ‘hoops’ may have been a tad fortunate but the win was fully deserving going on the performance of the two teams on the night. Arsenal controlled the tempo of the game and barely allowed Celtic a whiff of the play. However, a small concern will be the lack of action in front of goal from Robin Van Persie. The Dutch international needs to step it up this season with the absence of Emmanuel Adebayor because the fans will be expecting big things from their Dutch whiz-kid.

It’s all falling to pieces at Portsmouth. Just over a year ago, Portsmouth were celebrating their success in the FA Cup. Now, just over 14 months on and Portsmouth fans are now facing up to life in the lower half of the table with the club currently in disarray. They have no owner, a manager with no Premiership credentials and a squad that would probably struggle to compete in The Championship let alone in the World’s greatest league. Half of their bench was filled with youngsters on Saturday against Fulham and although that could be a sign that Portsmouth are willing to give their youth the chance to shine, to our untrained eyes it only highlighted their concerns within their ranks with ‘Pompey’ severely lacking in quality with decent players with any real Premiership quality at a premium at Fratton Park right now. Their squad is slim and so is their survival chances in our honest opinion.

We really can’t see Portsmouth getting any sort of positive result at The Emirates. To escape with a respectable scoreline would be seen as a positive from our point of view, but for manager Paul Hart, he can only concentrate on picking up at least a point after going two games with nothing to show for their lacklustre efforts. Bet365 go 9/2 the draw and we think that’s too small considering Pompey’s latest performances. Spineless, gutless, blunt, dull and simply pathetic is just some of the words i could use to describe Portsmouth’s performance at home to Fulham on Saturday. In all fairness, Fulham’s goal was a fluke so they could feel a little hard done by to lose but they never showed any intent of reducing the deficit and fully deserved to lose.

Head-to-Head: Arsenal W: 6 Portsmouth W: 0 Draws: 4

Arsenal have loved playing Portsmouth in the past with Pompey failing to record a famous victory over ‘The Gunners’ in their previous ten attempts. That’s not good, especially as Portsmouth possessed much better squads in previous years and this is one of the weakest Premiership sides let alone Portsmouth sides, that I’ve ever seen. Arsenal have beaten Portsmouth in their previous two encounters at The Emirates and we expect Arsenal to make it a Hat-Trick on Saturday.

Match Verdict: Arsenal to WIN – 2/9 Ladbrokes

If our decision was based on the squads of the two teams, it would be an Arsenal victory. If it was based on their recent performances, it would be an Arsenal victory. The Head-to-Head also doesn’t do Portsmouth any favours and anything other then an Arsenal win would be considered a major shock and huge setback for Arsenal.

Match Odds:

Arsenal – 2/9 Ladbrokes

Portsmouth – 18/1 Boylesports

Draw – 6/1 BlueSquare

SoccerBetting Tip: Arsenal/Arsenal HT/FT – 8/13 Bet365