Southampton V Portsmouth Betting: Saturday, 13th February (FA Cup – ITV1)

Southampton V Portsmouth

Saturday, 13^th February – 12:45 GMT (ITV1)

Southampton

FA Cup Outright Odds: 150/1 VCbet

It will be nearly six years since Southampton were relegated from the Premiership and the first time the Saints will get a good crack of the whip to not only book a rare passage into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, with their previous best effort being an FA Cup final appearance against Arsenal back in 2003 – to which they lost – but also to get one over on a hated neighbour.

29^th January, 2005 the last time Southampton claimed the bragging rights in the South Coast derby when they recorded a 2-1 victory at St. Mary’s, Saturday’s venue for this eagerly awaited clash. However, the tension has risen over the years because of length of time since these two last met in a competitive outing, which makes winning on Saturday that little bit more special. For Southampton, a side who are already enjoying cup success and have a date with Wembley already etched into their diaries – getting through to the final of the JPT – it could do wonders for their promotion bid with a win on Saturday, as it could be the push they need to get back into The Championship, and at least get into the Premiership promotion mixer.

For now, though, the only thing on the players minds will be this derby and we feel the Saints will make the most of this heated situation and rare derby day out simply because they have more home grown players in their squad. The vast majority of their squad are British which means they will know full well just how important attaining a win on Saturday will be to their loyal fans. They will appreciate this fixture a whole lot more than their opponents and won’t have any of the cash burdens that Portsmouth currently have to deal with. 

We feel Southampton are a STONKING good bet on Saturday as they will have no distractions, just positive momentum heading into this huge fixture. They arrive off the back of a sensational win in the JPT area final where they will now play Carlisle at Wembley. The mood in camp will be at its highest for some time and we feel it will take some performance from Pompey to knock the Saints off their perch. Especially with Southampton boasting most of the support in the stadium.

Portsmouth

FA Cup Outright Odds: 48/1 bWin

It’s D-Day for Portsmouth, and no, it’s not the day when the courts finally decide if Portsmouth are to go out of business but only the most heated derby on the South Coast as Pompey make the short trip across Portsmouth to face their local and hated neighbours, Southampton, at St. Mary’s.

We won’t talk about all their cash flow problems as that’s boring stuff, but more about Portsmouth’s game on Tuesday, which, had just about everything everything you could wish for from a neutral perspective. Cards, mistaken identity and some late shots which resulted in some open wounds – And we’re not on about The Bill. No, we’re talking about Portsmouth’s sensational fixture with Sunderland in midweek which featured three sending off’s, four if you count the referee sending off the wrong player before amending himself, and some late drama as Portsmouth clinched a vital point in the dying embers of the game. While the point hasn’t altered their position in the Barclay’s Premiership an awful lot, it does give the players a much needed lift in confidence after a difficult week of the pitch. 

Pompey fans will be praying their last gasp equaliser against Sunderland in midweek to be the catalyst for bigger and better things, and, more importantly, the start to a much bright future. However, with all their off-pitch problems, with Portsmouth up to their eyes in debt, that doesn’t look a likely scenario and it wouldn’t be at all surprising if the players did let all their manic happenings get to them. However, they can ill-afford to get distracted ahead of this derby encounter with the Saints as the fans will be furious if they don’t go St. Mary’s and get the win that would send them into the quarter-final draw and, in the process, give them a small boost in finances.

The problem for us is that Portsmouth are a club destined for relegation from the Premiership and they have too many off-the-field distractions to make them a worthy punt on Saturday. The players could quite easily be forgiven for letting the clubs money worries affect them, mentally, after all, it’s rare these days that the Pompey players actually get paid on time. Also, like we mentioned above in the Southampton preview, Portsmouth’s players won’t know too much about this fixture and just how important a game it is to the fans. Avram Grant, whom himself is a foreigner, is littered with non-British based players who won’t have a clue what this fixture is all about, nor probably care. You would have to feel Portsmouth will lose out in the motivation department and the form department, while their opponents are the complete opposite.

How they got here?:

Southampton

Beat Luton Town 1-0 (H)

Beat Ipswich Town 2-1 (H)

Portsmouth

Drew Coventry City 1-1 (H)

Beat Coventry City 1-2 aet (A)

Beat Sunderland 2-1 (H)

Match Verdict: Southampton to WIN – 3.00 SkyBet

The Saints should have the hunger and the drive to see off Portsmouth. Pompey do boast far more quality in their ranks, which is about right considering some are on £80,000 a week. However, in a game with so much at stake, both progression and bragging rights, we feel it’s best to have a young, British based squad as they know the importance of such a fixture. Southampton come into this game off the back of a morale boosting JPT win, a win which sends the club into a Wembley final showdown. They’ve also risen to 13^th in the table, defying a points deduction at the start of the season and have won their last seven games at home in all competitions. That’s good enough for us as we give Southampton the nod.

Match Odds:

Southampton – 3.00 SkyBet

Draw – 3.30 PaddyPower

Portsmouth – 2.62 VCbet

SoccerBetting Value Tip: Southampton to be winning at Half-Time (Half-Time Betting) – 3.55 bWin