Follow every kick as Portsmouth take on Liverpool at Fratton Park in the Premier League
on 19-Dec-2009, kick off time 12:45
Portsmouth v Liverpool Live
Match Preview
Premier League strugglers Portsmouth will be hoping to move off the bottom of the table when they host Rafael Benitez's Liverpool in Saturday's early kick-off. Pompey are three points behind second-bottom side West Ham and a win for the south coast side coupled with a defeat for the Hammers could see Avram Grant's men move clear of 20th place.
Pompey failed to take any points away from Stamford Bridge during midweek despite pushing Chelsea all the way, but with two wins in their last three home games, they will be confident of upsetting the visiting Reds. Striker Frederic Piquionne, who netted Portsmouth's goal at Stamford Bridge in a 2-1 defeat, feels that his team's impressive display against Chelsea can inspire the Hampshire side to victory against the Merseysiders. "If we play like that we believe we can get good results. That performance has given us confidence for the weekend against Liverpool," he told the club website.
"We played well but I believe we can do better than that. We play Liverpool on Saturday and there's no reason why we can't get something against them." Liverpool themselves have endured a difficult season so far, with their title aspirations having all but disappeared. However, the Reds did return to winning ways on Wednesday, proving too strong for Wigan after two league games without a victory. Fernando Torres netted the Reds' second in that 2-1 win and the Spanish superstar will no doubt be confident of finding the net again at Fratton Park, having already bagged three goals in his last two appearances against Portsmouth. According to team-mate Javier Mascherano, Torres' return to fitness will be vital to Liverpool kick-starting their season. The Argentinian hardman told the club website: "It is so important for us that Fernando stays fit.
We know that we can win games when he is not playing but, equally, when he is on the pitch, you can see the respect that other teams give him." Last season this fixture produced the proverbial five-goal thriller, with Liverpool going behind twice but eventually coming out on top courtesy of that man Torres with a last-gasp winner. However, Portsmouth will take comfort in the fact that Liverpool have won only one of their last five Premier League fixtures away from home. Both sides go into the game on Saturday with no major injury worries.
Source: DSG
