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English Premier League Preview: Man City v Portsmouth [Fri Aug 26th, 2005]
A troubled Portsmouth arrive at the City of Manchester stadium looking for their first win in four games. In contrast Manchester City are unbeaten and lie in 3rd place on the Premiership ladder. Can Pompey overcome their terrible form on the road and take full points off a buoyant City Blues outfit?
BACKGROUND
Portsmouth finally got off the mark midweek as Lomana Lua-Lua scored against a depleted Aston Villa outfit. In a lop-sided contest, a 10-man Aston Villa somehow salvaged a draw while barely managed a shot near the Pompey goal.
Despite their numerical advantage and almost 4 times as many shots on goal, the Fratton Park supporters watched Villa keeper Sorenson punish Pompey for squandering gilt-edged chances with some excellent saves. Manager Alain Perrin remained upbeat, maintaining that his squad had the ability to finish in the top half of the Premiership.
The question is just where are the goals going to come from? It doesn’t appear the current strikers have the necessary Yakubu-like finishing ability.
Meanwhile Manchester City continue to roll on in the Premiership, extending their solid start to the season with a win over Sunderland. Manager Stuart Pearce has built a squad that has the ability to grind out games where City are playing poorly, an ability that the City were lacking for much of the Keegan era.With both Vassell and Cole already on the City scoresheets, Pearce will be well-pleased with how seamlessly the new boys have fit into the team.
Furthermore, USA captain Claudio Reyna has finally shown what he can do when match fit while the box-to-box running of partner Joey Barton has shored up the central midfield. With two away wins under their belts, the Sky Blues will be optimistic that their good form will result in their first home win of the season.
FORM GUIDE
Manchester City (All competitions, earliest result first): DWW
Portsmouth (All competitions, earliest result first): LLD
TEAM NEWS
Portsmouth:
Long-term injured Cisse, Primus and Mornar remain out, while Perrin must decide whether to stick with Norwegian striker Karadas or play a barely match-fit Todorov or Pericard.
Manchester City:
An unchanged lineup from last week, although Pearce may opt for a just recovered Nedum Onuoha to slot into central defence following Stephen Jordan’s less than confident performance.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Manchester City:
For the first few games of this season at least, Trev Sinclair has done the impossible by filling in the void left by the departure of team talisman Shaun Wright-Phillips. With several sparkling performances and his debut goal for City, Sinclair has proven that 2 injury-plagued seasons have not hampered the ability that made him an England international.
Portsmouth:
Lua-Lua remains the danger man, capable of playing out wide or as an out-and-out striker. When he decides to turn up the heat, Lua-Lua is capable of getting past the best defenders in the game.
POSSIBLE STARTING XIs
Manchester City: James, Mills, Dunne, Onuoha, Thatcher, Musampa, Barton, Reyna, Sinclair, Cole, Vassell
Portsmouth: Westerveld, Stefanovic, O’Brien Vignal, Priske, Robert, Viafara, Hughes, O’Neil, Lua-Lua, Karadas
By Lucas Ng
News headlines from around the world.