Venue: Eastlands Date: Sunday, 21 September Kick-off: 1500 BST -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team News Manchester City midfielder Michael Johnson is a doubtful starter because of a groin injury. Manager Mark Hughes could shuffle his squad, but Martin Petrov remains sidelined with a groin problem. Portsmouth may rest wingers Armand Traore and John Utaka, so Younes Kaboul and Papa Bouba Diop could return. Ben Sahar has a knee injury, Niko Kranjcar (ankle) and Jerome Thomas (back) are still out so fit-again Glen Little may make the starting line-up. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp: "They will be very strong. I saw what team they put out in Cyprus and they have bags of ability. "Last year Elano, the Brazilian, was the big arrival and now suddenly you've also got two more - you've got Robinho, you've got Jo, full of flair, and also Shaun Wright-Phillips. "But we're in good form, three wins in a row now, and although it will be a tough game we'll have a go at them and be positive and attacking as we can." BIG-MATCH FACTS Portsmouth are chasing a third Premier League victory on the spin, at the expense of the joint top scorers, in Manchester City (going into this round of matches). Both clubs, victorious in the Uefa Cup on Thursday, have won two and lost two of their four Premier League fixtures; City have won one and lost one at home, while Pompey have won one and lost one away from home. Manchester City are defending an unbeaten home Premier League record over Portsmouth of three wins and two draws. Portsmouth have not left Manchester City with maximum points from a top-flight clash in 54 years. Distance between the clubs: 243 miles (391 kilometres) CLUB FORM MANCHESTER CITY Club stats Going into the weekend: 6th 6 points 2008-09 Premier League performance (all statistics are ahead of this weekend's round of Premier League fixtures) 1. Manchester's highest positioned club have completed 18 top-flight games since a score draw; 1-1, away to Derby on 30 January. 2. Alternated between win and loss in their last six home Premier League games. PORTSMOUTH Club stats Going into the weekend: 10th 6 points 2008-09 Premier League performance (all statistics are ahead of this weekend's round of Premier League fixtures) 1. Won their last three (all competitions). 2. Chasing their best winning sequence since posting four victories in a row between 23 September and 20 October, against Blackburn (a), Reading (h), Fulham (a) and Wigan (a). 3. Scored a total of five goals in two games, having failed to net more than a single goal in any of the previous eight Premier League games. KEY PLAYER NOTES MANCHESTER CITY Squad profiles If selected:- Richard DUNNE will be playing on his 29th birthday. BENJANI Mwaruwari will be facing his former club. The 30 year old Zimbabwe international made 77 appearances (70 in the league) and scored 19 league goals for Pompey between January 2006 and his £3.87m move to Eastlands in the January transfer window. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PORTSMOUTH Squad profiles If selected:- David JAMES will be facing his former club. The 38 year old keeper made 100 appearances (93 in the league) for City between January 2004 and his £1.2m move to Fratton Park in August 2006. Sylvain DISTIN will also be facing former club mates. The 30 year old defender made 206 appearances (178 in the league) and scored six goals (five league) for Manchester City between May 2002 and his free transfer to the south coast in the last close season. Sean DAVIS will be playing the day after turning 29. If on the field from the outset:- Pape Bouba DIOP will be making his 100th English league start (Fulham and Portsmouth). HEAD TO HEAD Portsmouth have not earned maximum points on Manchester City turf in 14 visits; they have drawn five and lost nine since prevailing 0-2 in the old Second Division on 24 August 1963. It was their only win in 19 trips to Citizens' turf. Portsmouth's last top-flight victory at City was 1-2 on 13 November 1954. Pompey finished third that season, City in mid-table. This is the 75th league meeting between the pair. Home and away League (inc PL): Man City 34 wins, Portsmouth 23, Draws 17 Prem: Man City 4 wins, Portsmouth 3, Draws 3 at Man City only League (inc PL): Man City 24 wins, Portsmouth 5, Draws 8 Prem: Man City 3 wins, Portsmouth 0, Draws 2
Can't wait to see MH's starting line-up, scintillating! So many players to chose from, what a turnaround. Shame that Petrov is still out, I bet he can't wait to get on the pitch and fire those balls into the box. Is there any news on Benjani's return? I hope this match is another thriller aka Sunderland game. That would be fantastic. Setanta are showing the match LIVE here in Canada at 10am local time (EST). Happy Birthday Dunnie , hope you have a great day and an even greater match. Get the back row into the great defence that it was last season. Come on City
Can't wait for this game. Although i'm not sure Foxtel is showing it .. that's 1 match out of 4 this year that i haven't been able to watch *GRR*. Hopefully Elano starts. He could do wonders in this lineup. If Kaboul is in to play midfield. Automatic city win .
With the Saturday (21st) matches included in the league table, City are currently 9th, Pompie 11th. Of note: Man United are 15th . Look closely at the table and it reads like this: Man City and Pompie have played the same number of matches and are on equal points (4 matches / 6 pts - goal difference, City 2 Pompie -1). Man United have a game in-hand and are on 4 points (sigh!). Dunnie to score a goal on his birthday anyone? Come on you Blues
Manager's programme notes pre Portsmouth 21/09/2008 13:15 I want to start my notes today by paying tribute to the supporters for their efforts last week when we played host to Chelsea. There was a fantastic atmosphere in the Stadium and the whole team, not just the returning Shaun Wright-Phillips and the new signings, received amazing support from the stands and we want more of that throughout the season here. We made a great start on the pitch too and the goal from Robinho maybe had that fairytale feel about it, but unfortunately we were unable to sustain the momentum that we had and they bounced back, like you expect good sides to do. There was plenty of encouragement there for all to see and maybe the distances travelled by our international players affected us more than Chelsea because I felt we lacked that little bit of spark at times. At key moments they were a little bit more dynamic than us and able to exploit the situations that they created better than we did. Saying that we had a couple of players making their debuts and as the season progresses we will get better as they integrate more into the team. I was delighted with Robinho’s contribution, every time he was on the ball he looked to be positive, and it was a great goal as well. Unfortunately their response was fairly instant and I felt that if we could have gone another 10 or 15 minutes with our noses in front then we could really have got a foothold in the game and we could have made it difficult for Chelsea. Although we’ll be better for the experience of going up against a very good side. And today we welcome another very good side to the City of Manchester Stadium in Portsmouth. They had a tough opening to the season with Chelsea and Manchester United in successive games, but they have since bounced back and I was particularly impressed by their 3-0 away win at Everton, as teams don’t often tend to go Goodison Park and leave with a result like that. Similarly to us they are in the middle of a run of games in three competitions and we are hopeful of a very successful season here. The target is ideally to be able to progress in all the competitions that we're involved in and following on from Thursday’s UEFA Cup win in Cyprus we want to make an impression in the competition because we feel that European football will help us develop as a team. It's a big part of what we want to achieve and ideally if we can get into the group stages then we're guaranteed a number of games and I certainly think it will help the team to develop and hopefully be successful. Part of any success is challenging on a number of fronts, and with the games coming thick and fast for us at the moment I have to be mindful of using the full squad here because it’s a big ask going into European games, Carling Cup games and some very difficult Premier League games playing the same 11 players week in, week out. It is a good challenge for everyone at the Club at the moment and those out of the side have to show the right reaction, knuckle down and give me food for thought. I have a lot of quality players from whom I can choose, which is great, though it can cause problems because quality players are never happy when they don’t play. That has always been the case but it doesn’t particularly worry me. It’s my job is to select the correct combination of players and the best 11 may not always be the best team. One player I will be able to call upon for now and in future is Michael Johnson and I’m delighted that he signed a new five-year deal with the Club this week. It's important that the young players understand, despite what's happening with the Club and the exciting things surrounding it, that the key message is that if you are good enough you will prosper at Manchester City. Michael is a young talent we think a lot of and it's really important that we were able to tie him to the Club for a considerable amount of time. We have a number of young players in and around the first team squad that have a real empathy for the Club and I've always felt that is really important and you need that at your Club if you want to progress. Thanks for the support and enjoy the game.
The lineup i have been waiting to see since Robinho signed .. 1437: TEAM NEWS Manchester City manager Mark Hughes selects Brazilian attacking trio Elano, Jo and Robinho. Dietmar Hamann drops to the bench as does left-back Michael Ball, who is replaced by Javier Garrido. Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe start for Portsmouth in attack while left-sided defender Nadir Belhadj makes his first Premier League start for the club. Man City: Hart, Zabaleta, Richards, Dunne, Garrido, Kompany, Wright-Phillips, Ireland, Elano, Robinho, Jo. Subs: Schmeichel, Michael Ball, Gelson, Hamann, Evans, Ben-Haim, Sturridge. Portsmouth: James, Johnson, Distin, Campbell, Belhadj, Diarra, Davis, Kaboul, Armand Traore, Crouch, Defoe. Subs: Ashdown, Hreidarsson, Diop, Pamarot, Utaka, Mvuemba, Kanu.
We should/could be another goal up, but Portsmouth have been really really good for the last 10 minutes and could of scored one without Zabaleta and Dunnie. Both good clearances. Elano is almost playing as a deep-lying playmaker, along side Kompany .. tracking back as well. and then we have Jo upfront and Robinho, SWP and Ireland in an attacking midfield trio.
Oh what a birthday surprise, Dunnie scores a goal (not a header from the corner, but off his boot!!).... my prediction for the winning lottery numbers is....I only wish I knew!! Fantastic attacking play, SWP as ever is working hard, ab fab footwork by Robinho, Jo putting himself about - just what we've all been waiting for during those long cold seasons. Tighten up the passing, hold tight in defence, another goal (or two, one from Robinho!! the other from Elano). Great saves by James, or we could've been at least 3-up. Pompei also could've scored at least one. Happy birthday Dunnie, champagne's on me! Come on City
Ireland is playing a man possessed right now. And SWP is running all over Pompey. Robinho has done fairly well (nice finish) but it is obvious he needs to acclimate to the physicality of the English game. Zabaleta is the bargain signing of the window, if you ask me, and has made at least five premier saving tackles. Elano seems a bit off (Dunnie's goal was off a horrible corner from Elano and then our Maestro knocked another corner right out for a goal kick) but is making up for it with his work rate.
My god we are killing them. Evans gets his first senior goal off an absolutely paralysing show and pass from Robinho and SWP play-on (from Elano instant vision and pure passing beauty). We officially have a dominant and gelling midfield.
The massacre is officially over. I don't think there is a player that was not awesome today, even Garrido was bloody amazing. I can't choose between 'Binho, Ireland and Sweep for MOM. Jo was great (despite what the commentators were saying), Elano and Kompany were very very classy as a CM pairing, and the backline was steller. Zabaleta is showing why we bought him, he is worth so much more than whatever we paid for him on that performance. Just bloody amazing. We never needed to buy Ronaldhino, SWP is far better than that hack. Ballon D'or headed his way ??!!!
I'm off to bed, 2 in the morning here. Best performance i have ever seen from us. We have something special here, very special indeed. I think we need to start handing out the shirts saying "I was here when we were ****"