Tottenham Hotspur vs Portsmouth Match Preview
Tottenham are going into the weekend’s match against Portsmouth fresh off their 3-1 FA Cup Quarter Final win over London rivals Fulham on Wednesday. They’ll face Saturday opponents Portsmouth in one of the FA Cup Semi-Finals.
Striker Jermain Defoe is doubtful due to a hamstring injury. He joins a veritable galaxy of Tottenham stars who are definitely ruled out or are doubtful for the Pompey match.
Bassong (ankle), Corluka (ankle) Jenas (groin), Lennon (groin) Woodgate (groin) Cudicini (motorcycle accident), King (thigh).
Who’s left one might ask? Gudjohnson, Crouch, Pavlyuchenko, Krancjar, Modrich, Huddlestone, Bentley, Bale, et al. Spurs are rich with talent.
So why are they fourth in the league, and can they hold that position through the end of the season?
Spurs are in good form going into the Portmouth match having gone undefeated in eight matches in all competitions. They’ve won six of those eight. And having beaten Pompey 1-2 at Fratton Park last time out ‘Arry’s chaps will be confident despite the injuries in the squad.
Portsmouth may be destined for the drop at the end of the season but they fight on and you have to hand it to manager Avram Grant and his men for their never-say-die spirit.
A come-from-behind 3-2 win over struggling Hull City at the weekend undoubtedly lightened the mood at Fratton Park but that was followed by a crushing 5-0 defeat by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
They’re still in the FA Cup at least and they’ll play Tottenham in the Semi’s.
The nine point deduction levied against them by the league for having gone into financial administration undoubtedly guarantees Pompey’s relegation but more bad new may follow. If they are unable to exit administration by June they may be forced to start next season with a 15 point deficit. The league, however, has announced that Pompey will have special dispensation to sell players before the end of the season and thus pay off debt.
Adding injury to insult Boateng and Yebda are definitely out of the Spurs match. Belhadj, Ben-Haim, Diop, Rocha, Smith and Utaka are questionable while O’Hara is unable to play against Tottenham because of his status as a loanee from Spurs to Portsmouth.
