Portsmouth V Liverpool Betting – Saturday 19th December

Portsmouth V Liverpool

Saturday 19^th December – 12:45 GMT

Portsmouth

League Position: 20th

Recent Form: LLWDL

Portsmouth were far from disgraced in midweek despite losing to Chelsea at stamford Bridge. The 2-1 score line was a fair reflection on a game Portsmouth more than held their own in. Many, including us, expected Portsmouth to simply roll over and that Chelsea would cruise to victory, but that certainly wasn’t the case and Avram Grant deserves a lot of credit for the performance from his players.

However, it’s a results business and, although the performance from the team was great, they still came away from London with nothing to show for their efforts and are still found floundering at the foot of the table. The arrival of Liverpool, after two games without a win, isn’t exactly what Avram Grant ordered but if Portsmouth were to play like they did on Wednesday night, Avram Grant could be celebrating just his second league win in as many games since he took charge of the club last month. However, Portsmouth had a much stronger squad last season and came up short in this fixture with another valiant effort, losing 3-2 to Liverpool at Fratton Park. With their key players leaving during the course of last season, surely the initiative is with their opponents rather than themselves.

If points were given out for effort then Portsmouth probably wouldn’t be in the bottom three right now. However, that isn’t the case and never will be, and Pompey’s lack of composure in the final third is costing them dearly, despite some valiant efforts in most of their games this season. Time after time the likes of Aruna Dindane and Frederic Piquionne are spurring glorious goalscoring opportunties and it’s cost the club lots of points. In their last six league outings, Portsmouth have suffered four defeats and in two of them, Chelsea and Stoke City (1-0), Pompey deserved at least a point for their efforts, with even penalty’s being missed, which just emphasises their lack of confidence in front of goal.

Our only real flaw with Portsmouth is their lacklustre play in the final third. They can create chances, good ones at that, but we’ve lost count with the amount of one-on-ones and open goals they’ve missed already this season, and it comes as no surprise to hear that they have one of the worst offence records in the league, scoring just 15 goals in 17 outings in the league, a dreadful return for your money. However, 10 of those 15 have come at Fratton Park so it’s clear that their one-legged strikers do perform better under a home influence.

Portsmouth’s record at Fratton Park is still extremely poor at 2-0-6, with their two wins doing very little to hide their shoddy form all around. They beat a poor travelling Burnley 2-0, a game they actually didn’t deserve to win in all fairness, while they smashed Wigan Athletic, a team who later went on to concede nine at White Hart Lane, winning 4-0. Those two victories were the two rare occasions that Portsmouth didn’t concede at home so perhaps a valiant, hard-working display at the back could be converted into three points providing their forwards pull their socks up.

Liverpool

League Position: 6th

Recent Form: DWDLW 

Liverpool fans have had to endure a forgettable season to date but their fortunes did turn slightly for the better when their underachievers beat Wigan Athletic 2-1 at Anfield. That was just their second win in seven and, with others around them playing a lot better and picking up points on a more consistent basis, Liverpool will need to put together a consistent run of wins themselves if they want to cling onto their ‘Big Four’ status.

Do Liverpool look a top four team at present – far from it. They have been terrible in every aspect all season, with their only noteworthy performance coming at home to Man Utd, in a game they completely controlled from start to finish. That’s the problem with Liverpool this season compared to the success they enjoyed last term. A year ago, Liverpool were dominating matches, controlling both the play and the tempo of their games. However, everyone involved with the club has quickly come to realise that the loss of Xabi Alonso in the center of the park has hurt the reds’ a lot more than anyone anticipated, but yet his replacement, Alberto Aquilani, is barely getting a game at the moment despite featuring in the Liverpool training sessions for well over a month now. 

For us, if Rafael Benitez opts to start with Lucas in the centre of midfield for Saturday’s trip down to Portsmouth, we won’t be touching Liverpool. While Javier Mascherano provides a more than adequate protective blanket over an exposed defence, Lucas simply doesn’t make the cut when it comes to doing what Alonso did best in the exact same role; shipping the ball accurately from flank to flank, opening up all the spaces which enabled Liverpool to enjoy the successthey had in the final third. The Brazilian is far too simple and his range of passes ranges from two yard trickles to 10 yard chips – that is your lot. Aquilani, however, is supposedly a great distributor of the ball and he is a must starter for Liverpool on Saturday in a game the club can ill-afford to lose more points in.

Away from home this season, Liverpool have been very poor, especially of late. They started alright, winning two of their opening three away fixtures. However, it’s all array since, with Liverpool managing just one away win in their last five away outings. That rare away success for Liverpool coming at their local neighbours, Everton. A club who are also struggling, a lot more than Liverpool. Also, what is strange and not something you tend to associate with Liverpool is their poor defence when on the road. The fact that they’ve conceded two more goals then they’ve scored on their travels just about says it all but in eight away outings this season, Pepe Reina in the Liverpool goal has kept just one clean sheet; the 2-0 victory at Goodsion Park.

Head-to-Head (Last 10):

Portsmouth W: 1 Liverpool W: 6 Draws: 3

In the last ten meetings between the two, Portsmouth have won just one league encounter. Pompey’s only league success in ten meetings coming at Fratton Park back in 2007, a 2-1 victory via strikes from Benjani and Niko Kranjcar, player still in the Premiership but at clubs elsewhere. Liverpool, though, will be confident of attaining the right result, a win, as they’ve won the previous three encounters with Portsmouth and did complete a league double last season, beating Portsmouth 1-0 at Anfield but 3-2 at Fratton Park, a game where Pompey did lead 2-1 at one stage before Fernando Torres saved the day.

In six matches at Fratton Park, 3 have gone Liverpool’s way, two have been won by Portsmouth and just one ended all square.

Match Verdict: Liverpool to WIN – 1.67 BlueSquare

We’re hoping that their win over Wigan in midweek will be the first building block in a long road of winning games. Judging by their recent performances, perhaps that’s asking too much of a side that hasn’t won back-to-back games since September. Nonetheless, an opportunity to notch up your second successive win in the league doesn’t come around all that oftenand a trip to Fratton Park provides them with just that, a venue which has seen Portsmouth strike up a 75% losing percentage. Liverpool haven’t exactly been sublime themselves on the road but they should still be too strong for what is a poor Portsmouth team. However, Liverpool do have defence problems and it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see Portsmouth at least embrace the score sheet in what should be a game with plenty of goalmouth action.

Match Odds:

Portsmouth – 6.50 Bet365

Draw – 3.80 Bet365

Liverpool – 1.67 BlueSquare

SoccerBetting Value Tip: Fernando Torres to Score 2 or more – 6.50 WilliamHill