Mark Hughes will be looking to complete a hat-trick of Premier League victories and continue City’s impressive start to the season on the South coast.
The City boss appears to have settled on his preferred starting line-up for the moment, so with no injury worries it would be a surprise to see any changes to the side that beat Crystal Palace on Thursday night.
The only possible changes might be to bring in Zabaleta for Richards, or to tweak the formation with De Jong coming in to give the defence a bit more protection. The latter should certainly be a consideration in our next match, when we play Arsenal, but for Pompey I expect to see a confident Hughes stick with Barry and Ireland.
Sylvain Distin is one old boy that we won’t be facing following his sale to Everton, though amongst several debutants we should see Michael Brown. We can probably expect a typically hard working and feisty performance from the former Blue as he seeks to impress his new employers. Watch your ankles Robinho!
David James is the other former blue set to play if fit, and he could shortly be joined at Pompey by Benjani and Tal Ben Haim if newspaper reports are correct. These transfers would make sense given the connections between City’s owners and Sulaiman al-Fahim. Neither player looks to have much of a future at City while Benjani was previously a fans favourite down there – something which many City fans struggle to comprehend.
Mark Hughes:
“Its early days, but I am encouraged by what we have produced and what I’ve seen so far. There’s a real resilience to us at the moment, there was a lot of focus on us ahead of Blackburn, and then we were away at the Nou Camp, which was only a friendly in inverted commas!
“We put in a great shift at Palace as well, we had to be on our mettle to come through that. Those are the type of games that were beyond us last year, and for us to improve so quickly on the road is very encouraging.
“It’s hard to plan for because personnel-wise they are changing day on day. It will be difficult to get an angle on who we are facing, they may do some business before the game so we’ll just have to see what the weekend brings.
“The key thing is for us to continue with the momentum we have built up over the last few weeks. If we can continue that, we’ll go into the international break in good heart. There are some big, big games coming up when we return, so it’s important we get a positive result against Portsmouth.”
Football ground guide to Fratton Park
Trivia: Portsmouth manager Paul Hart is the son of former City defender and manager Johnny Hart, and said in The Independent today, “I was brought up at Maine Road and City were my team.”
Prediction: 3-0 to City
Northern Ireland international, Ryan McGivern, has joined Leicester City on loan until January.
The 19 year-old looked promising in pre-season and might have been considered as back-up to Wayne Bridge if Javier Garrido left the club. However the signing of Sylvinho put paid to that, and instead he heads out of Eastlands once again, following a spell at Morecombe last season.
The Championship should provide Ryan with a good standard of first team experience, and he might make his Leicester debut against Newcastle on Monday.
City have been drawn against fellow Premier League side Fulham in the third round of the Carling Cup. The tie is due to take place in the week beginning 21 September. This lies between the Old Trafford derby on Sunday 18 September and the home game against West Ham on Monday 28 September.
Whilst not the easiest draw we could have hoped for, at least we are at home. Fulham are also competing in the group stages of the Europa League, so it’s quite possible that this fixture won’t be amongst Roy Hodgson’s uppermost priorities this season.
The cottagers don’t have the biggest squad so we could be facing weaker opposition than we might expect in a Premier League game. Mark Hughes, of course, named a full strength team for the Palace game and will be lexoected to continue in the same vein.
With this in mind, it looks like a reasonable draw and City will be confident of progressing in our quest for silverware and a trip to Wembley.
Given – If Ireland is Superman what does that make Shay? Once again superb in handling, positioning and shot stopping. 9
Richards – Given a tough test by Moses. Micah didn’t come through with flying colours. His additional height and strength is probably all that’s keeping Zabaleta on the bench at the moment. 5
Toure – His leadership qualities as captain are going to be essential in organising that defence. A decent showing on the night, but not at the same level as the performances against Blackburn and Wolves. 6
Lescott – Thrown in at the deep end by Hughes, but showed some quality moments. The defence was under a lot more pressure than one would have hoped. Good to see him making tackles and bringing the ball out from the back. 6
Bridge – In attack, slowly but surely there’s an understanding forming between Wayne and Robinho. In defence he’s still on his own, but continued to cope better than in the past. 6
Wright-Phillips – Our most effective attacking player on the night, scoring one and sending over the cross for the second. Some great runs, but still needs a more consistent end product. 8
Ireland – Once again the fulcrum of our attacking. His eagerness to burst into the opposition penalty area does leave the team exposed when possession is lost. 6
Barry – More timely interceptions, but not able to cover the ground quick enough when asked to hold the midfield on his own. 6
Tevez – Worked a good chance in the opening couple of minutes but fired over. His first goal eventually came and with a little more sharpness those shooting boots should start to find the net as well. 7
Adebayor – Failed to score, but provided some excellent link up play. The Togolese continues to look a class act. 7
Robinho – We saw plenty of endeavour from the Brazilian and great control in playing in Wright-Phillips for a shot against the bar. Unlucky with one offside in particular, when he was reprimanded for cheekily lobbing the keeper. 7
Subs:
Bellamy – The Welshman isn’t proving as effective from the bench as when he starts. His role seems a little unclear and isn’t getting the best out of him. 6
De Jong – Barely time for a touch, but he’s still a welcome sight. 6
Man of the match: Shay Given