Portsmouth V Burnley odds

 

Portsmouth V Burnley

 

Kick-off: Saturday 5^th December – 12:45 GMT

Venue: Fratton Park

TV Coverage: Sky Sports 1

 

 

 

Portsmouth

 

League Position: 20th

Recent Form: DWLLL

  

Portsmouth must recover from their Carling Cup heartache in time for the arrival of Burnley in what is an early six pointer between two sides destined to be near the very bottom come the end of the season. With Paul Hart now out of the picture, former Chelsea manager, Avram Grant, has now taken over the reigns, but his first game in charge didn’t go to plan so how will he fare in just his third competitive outing as Pompey manager?

  

For Avram Grant, it’s now two defeats on the spin. For Portsmouth, however, it’s three, losing away at Blackburn (3-1), away at Stoke City (1-0) and at home to Man Utd last weekend (1-4). After Portsmouth finished October on a high with four points from their last two fixtures of the month, November hasn’t quite gone to plan with Pompey failing to pick up a single point in the month of ?November, so will the festive season bring about some added gift-wrapped points for Avram Grant & Co? A home encounter with Burnley, a side with terrible away tendencies, would suggest that they should at least pick up some points on Saturday but, after an abysmal showing in the season thus far, who knows what sort of team will show up at Fratton Park.

  

On Saturday, Portsmouth were slightly unlucky to be on the wrong end of such a one-sided result, losing 4-1 to second placed, Manchester United. They started the game really well, bombarding the United defence with attacks and peppering the United goal with long distance efforts. However, like many times gone before, their defence was their downfall and to concede two penalty’s in a single match is just asking for trouble. A bright start soon turned sour, and after being knocked out of the Carling Cup on Tuesday, Avram Grant will need to raise the morale of the group.

  

Whichever way you look at it, Portsmouth have an abysmal record at home this season: 1-0-6. The Portsmouth fans have had to endure some dreadful displays from their side since the season began but, although they were comprehensively beaten come the end last Saturday, the previous home outing did see them win in a convincing manner themselves, beating Wigan Athletic 4-1. However, with the exception of that rare success, Pompey have lost all but one at home this season but all have been by a slim one goal margin meaning they haven’t been as bad as their form might suggest. They do create plenty of chances, that’s a big positive for them, but it’s to our annoyance that they spurn most of them.

  

If you’re to pluck the courage and back Portsmouth then you’re basically praying that Pompey’s forwards, mainly Aruna Dindane, is on top form. The amount of sitters they waste, once again – mainly Aruna Dindane, is quite remarkable but the fact that chances are coming their way is a good sign. They should create plenty on Saturday against a Burnley defence which has conceded more on the road then anyone else in the league. Perhaps this is set up nicely for just Portsmouth second home win of the season.

 

 

 

Burnley

 

League Position: 12th

Recent Form: LWDDL

  

The focus on Burnley this season hasn’t really been about some of their fabulous results or their superb form at home but more about their shoddy away form. Of the 17 points Burnley have accumulated thus far, just the one point came on the road, although, that was a stunning point away at Man City. Nevertheless, Burnley’s fortunes on the road have been woeful this season, and after conceding five last Saturday, can it only get worse for Burnley on their next away day out?

  

When playing in front of a capacity home crowd, Burnley can play attractive, attacking football, and this has shown in not only their points tally at Turf Moor but also the amount of goals they’ve scored there, also. At home, Burnley have scored 11 goals compared to the 8 on the road. Now, there’s actually not a lot of difference in that but when you glance at the huge difference in their home and away defensive record, you’ll begin to see why Burnley are in such a terrible away predicament. The Clarets’ defence has been breached just six times at Turf Moor, whereas on the road they’ve conceded a mammoth amount of goals, 25 in total, the worst away defence in the league.

  

The problem with Burnley, and Owen Coyle for that matter, is that they’re failing in their bid to please everyone. They remain content on playing entertaining, attacking football and they will not dither in their attempt to make their matches attractive, but this does have it’s drawbacks, especially on the road. If you do boast a strong defence then playing on the front foot is fine but Owen Coyle has struggled to recruit enough worthy talent at the back to cope with the attacking prowess most sides in the league have to offer. Sooner or later they will need to shut up shop in an attempt to pick up some points because, if they carry on like they are, Burnley could go the entire season without an away victory.

  

Regardless of their dreadful away form and their pathetic defence when on the road, this is still a glorious opportunity for Burnley to record their very first away win in the Premiership. Portsmouth have been playing well of late, albeit not getting the right results, and Portsmouth’s bad fortunes could favour Burnley as the Clarets certainly know how to ride their luck at times. Also, Perhaps their late revival away at West Ham last weekend, losing 5-3, might inspire the players as Burnley have now scored eight goals in their previous three away outings, all against notoriously strong home outfits.

 

 

 

 

Head-to-Head (Last 10):

 

Portsmouth W: 0 Burnley W: 0 Draws: 0

 

 

As this is Burnley first stint in the English Premiership, Saturday’s early encounter will be the very first meeting between the two sides since the Premiership was formed.

 

 

 

The pair did clash on several occasions half-a-dozen years ago in The Championship, although it was known as just ‘League 1′ back then. It was Portsmouth, though, who generally enjoyed the meetings with Burnley, winning three of the six meetings, failing to lose a single game against the Clarets.

 

 

However, the pair did meet in a fairly recent League Cup (Carling Cup) encounter, with Portsmouth beating Burnley 1-0 at Turf Moor, two seasons ago.

 

 

 

 

Match Verdict:- Portsmouth to WIN – 1.91 SKyBet

 

Burnley have put up stern resistance in their recent away encounters, although they were dreadful for the best part of their 5-3 defeat at West Ham last weekend. Portsmouth, however, well they’ve been beaten in their last three outings in the league, although, just one of those came at Fratton park. Pompey’s last encounters was a home defeat, losing 4-1 to Man Utd, but they were playing very well, creating plenty of chances, before a lack of concentration at the back let them down. Portsmouth have been very unlucky at times this season, losing games they did at least deserve a point out of, but we think their luck could be in this Saturday as we back Portsmouth to win Saturday’s first live encounter in front of the ESPN cameras.

 

 

 

Match Odds:

 

Portsmouth – 1.91 SkyBet

Draw – 3.50 BetFred

Burnley – 4.50 Bet365

 

 

 

SoccerBetting Value Tip: Total Home Goals (Over 1.5 Goals) – 2.00 Boylesports