Portsmouth and Southampton will contest the 38th South Coast derby with both needing the points at St. Mary's tomorrow.
Team News
George Thorne has returned to West Brom due to an ankle injury, meaning Kelvin Etuhu could come into the midfield or Luca Scapuzzi may be handed his first Pompey start.
Tal Ben-Haim has been struggling with an injury and hasn't trained but is expected to be available for the game.
Rickie Lambert is expected to return to the Saints side after missing their 3-0 defeat at Blackpool last week. Fraser Richardson also missed that game and so Danny Butterfield may keep his place in the side.
The Match
Before the 5-1 thumping at the hands of Burnley, I would have quite happily taken a draw from this game. However, it now seems like only a win will do to keep the slim hopes of Championship survival alive.
The Scummers have been relishing this game since the fixtures were released and will be baying for revenge after Pompey thrashed them 4-1 on their own turf two years ago.
I am surprised to see them so nervous, though. I was expecting that they would be brimming with confidence and were looking forward to virtually ending our stay in the second tier of football.
Now Reading have taken their place at the top of the league, there will be extra pressure on them to beat us tomorrow.
Unfortunately, it looks very likely that Rickie Lambert will be fit for this game. If I was Michael Appleton I would be telling our tallest and quickest defender (that would be Halford, then) to stick to him like glue.
I would also bring the experienced Ricardo Rocha back into the side to play alongside him and drop Karim Rekik simply because his second half performance against Burnley was jaded and he is so young he won't understand or have the experience to play well in this fixture.
As for the mdifield, Thorne's absence means that it is likely Joel Ward will move into the centre of midfield. The hero of the reverse fixture, the local lad is really going to have to step up to the plate and get stuck in.
This is an opportunity for those men wearing blue tomorrow to make a name for themselves in the city of Portsmouth.
Quincy Owusu-Abeyie, Lomana LuaLua and Yakubu Ayiegbeni have made their mark on this fixture over the years, so what chance Chris Maguire, Marko Futacs or David Norris could add their names to the honours?
There is also some opportunity for Luke Varney to earn some redemption for himself tomorrow. He took some (unwarranted) stick from some Pompey fans after a poor second half against Burnley, but a goal against our neighbours will see everything forgiven.
Being brutally honest, you won't find very many Pompey fans who believe we will go to their place and win.
The 5-1 defeat last week was demoralising but if you look at this fixture positively then you would expect a reaction from that. The pressure is also on them because they are the team that are expected to win.
Appy has stated that he will make sure his team go there to win and I believe that we should just go at them and attack from the start. They won't be expecting it and they may well crumble like they did at Blackpool.
Of course, there is every chance that this tactic backfires and we get battered, but why should that matter? Our last four away games have been dire to watch as a tentative Pompey side failed to create any chances and were always suspect at the back.
So whilst tomorrow has the potential to be one of the most humiliating days of our Pompey supporting lives, it may also spring one of the biggest and best surprises that may well match the highs of beating them back in 2005.
If we are going down, let's make sure we go down fighting!
Play Up Pompey!
Predicted Starting Line-Ups
Saints
GK: Kelvin DAVIS
RB: Fraser RICHARDSON
CB: Jose FONTE
CB: Jos HOOIVELD
LB: Danny FOX
RM: Steve DE RIDDER
CM: Morgan SCHNEIDERLIN
CM: Jack CORK
LM: Adam LALLANA
CF: Rickie LAMBERT
CF: Billy SHARP
Pompey
GK: Jamie ASHDOWN
RB: Tal BEN-HAIM
CB: Jason PEARCE
CB: Greg HALFORD
LB: Karim REKIK
RM: Kelvin ETUHU
CM: Joel WARD
CM: David NORRIS
LM: Scott ALLAN
CF: Luke VARNEY
CF: Chris MAGUIRE
Last Time: Southampton 1 Portsmouth 4 (FA Cup Fifth Round - 13/02/2010)
After a poor first half with Saints well on top, this derby exploded into life when Quincy came off the bench to curl a beauty past Kelvin Davis for the opener.
The lead didn't last long as Lambert headed in a long ball but Pompey soon found themselves back in front as Aruna Dindane broke away from the Southampton defence to score.
Lee Barnard's quick reply was ruled out for offside and breakaway goals from Nadir Belhadj and Jamie O'Hara sealed an emphatic first win at St. Mary's for Pompey fans that will never be forgotten.
Click here for the Fratton Faithful Southampton Championship Profile page.
My Prediction
Our away form is dreadful and although they got battered last week, I am expecting the Scummers to finally get their revenge on us. However, my prediction record this season has been dreadful, so there is some hope!
Southampton 2 Portsmouth 0
Source: FOOTYMAD
