Man City look to return to winning ways after their last gasp defeat to Manchester United in the Carling Cup, Whilst Avram Grant will be hoping his Portsmouth players can ignore the financial crisis surrounding the club and continue their unlikely battle up and out of the relegation zone.
Manchester City came within minutes of taking Man United to Extra time in the Carling Cup, only for Wayne Rooney to pop up with an injury time winner. Deep disappointment after great performances from both teams. Manager Roberto Mancini will be confident of a great response when his players return to their home ground against Pompey. Although unfortunate to go out, it will have been pleasiung for Mancini to see that his side can rerally mix it with the big boys over two legs, and he will expect his City side to brush Portsmouth aside. He has a few injury problems, with Lescott, Bridge and Toure ruled out, and Stephen Ireland and Santa Cruz both missing, but such is City’s squad size, this shouldn’t cause too much of a problem. Carlos Tevez has been in devastating form recently and he will be looking to get on the score sheet again.
Avram Grant is making a respectable stab at pulling Pompey out of the relegation zone, with good results recently including an away win against struggling Sunderland. They still lie bottom of the pile but with a game in hand, they have a chance of making further ground soon. It may not be on sunday, however. The squad still looks dangerously thin, and with key players missing such as Belhadg, Dindane and Kanu, it’s hard to see where the attacking threat will come from. I think the most Portsmouth can hope for is a battling draw, but even that would be a surprise.
Verdict: Manchester City Home Win
Odds: 2/7
Bookmaker: Sporting Bet
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