Bottom three have difficult weekend fixtures

It doesn’t get any easier for the Premier League bottom three as they all face difficult fixtures. Rock bottom side Portsmouth host a fast improving Everton side, Hull City visit title challengers Liverpool at Anfield. Third from bottom Blackburn host in-form Aston Villa at Ewood Park.

Portsmouth struggle as Everton hit form

Portsmouth broke a Premier League record in their 2-0 defeat at Aston Villa it was their sixth consecutive defeat. They looked all over the place and the team seems to have no cohesion as yet, but that’s understandable considering the turnover of players during the summer. One upside to their defeat to Villa was that the score was kept to a respectable two goal defeat.

There was also a slight bright spot during the week with Pompey claiming a 3-1 victory at League One Carlisle. New strikers Danny Webber and Aruna Dindane both got their first ever goals for Pompey with Belgian defender cum-midfielder Anthony Vanden Borre also getting on the scoresheet. That victory may inspire slightly more confidence and lift the morale at the club a little but I can still see them struggling in this clash.

However their opponents Everton have scored 11 goals in their last three games and haven’t conceded any. Everton’s 4-0 victory over Hull at the KC Stadium in the Carling Cup may have been achieved against a weakened Tigers side but the Toffee’s just brushed aside their opponents in a display of ruthless attacking play.

It seems Everton’s season has now turned around. Even without two of our key players defender Phil Jagielka and midfield playmaker Mikel Arteta we have shown real improvement in recent weeks. On Wednesday night there was the added boost of striker Yakubu returning to the starting line-up and scoring just 11 minutes in to his first start in nine games. He was substituted at half-time as a precaution after picking up a knock but the former Pompey striker should still take part in this clash.

This all adds up to Everton’s first league away victory of the season. Although I think it will be a close contest and it might not be the prettiest game to watch this weekend either. I am biased on this subject though, so if there’s any Pompey supporters out there let me know your thoughts on the game.

Tigers don’t stand a cat in hell’s chance at Anfield

Second from bottom Hull City face a daunting away trip to Liverpool. The Tigers go into this game on the back of a heavy 4-0 defeat to Everton in the Carling Cup in midweek. As previously mentioned the Tigers fielded a shadow side in Wednesday’s clash but still a losing streak is not good for any club, especially not for a club struggling at the bottom of their league.

Former Everton great Graeme Sharp was the summariser for a local radio station and gave a very honest opinion that he thought Hull were wrong to field a weakened side against Everton because he didn’t think they’d get a result at Anfield anyway. I must admit Graeme is one of my heroes and I have to agree with his frank comment. It will be a big surprise if the Tigers do manage to come away from Anfield with anything other than a mauling.

Blackburn face difficult task of beating Villa

Blackburn have had a really poor start to the season and are currently third from bottom. Rovers face in-form Aston Villa at Ewood Park this weekend. The North West side progressed in to the fourth round of the Carling Cup with a 1-0 victory over Championship side Nottingham Forest.

However they were trounced 3-0 at Everton in their last Premier league outing and Villa have won four out of their first five Premier League games. Villa have made a superb comeback after losing their first league game 2-0 at home Wigan. I can see Villa making this five wins out of six games in the Premier League.