Aston Villa v Portsmouth
English Premier League
Villa Park - Birmingham
Saturday, 18th Ocotober 2008 - KO 15:00

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I'm looking forward to seeing this clash at Villa Park as Pompey travel to face an Aston Villa side that should have ambitions of a Champions League qualification spot.

ASTON VILLA

Aston Villa were not able to compete with Chelsea in their last match, but Villa are one of the better sides in the Premier league this season as Martin O'Neill continues to build his side.

Villa have two wins and a draw from their first three home games, and although I was a little disappointed in the ambitions of BOTH sides in the 0-0 result with Liverpool, overall I've been impressed with Aston Villa.

With Gabriel Agbonlahor and John Carew scoring 10 goals between them so far Villa have the ability to score goals, and I'd expect a fairly open game.

PORTSMOUTH

Pompey were stunning on the road last season, winning NINE of their 18 away games, but a lot of that came early on and Portsmouth actually went 3-0-8 in their last 11.

A lot of that was down to the counter attacking pace of Sulley Muntari who's now left the club, and although Portsmouth have replaced him with Jermaine Defoe and Peter Crouch they've lost something on the counter.

This season we've already seen both sids of Pompey, looking great in winning 3-0 at Goodison Park against Everton, and yet being thumped 0-4 by Chelsea and 0-6 by Manchester City.

HEAD TO HEAD

Aston villa have a slight advantage in league games at Villa Park, but have failed to win either of the last two clashes.

Last season Portsmouth won both fixtures, coupling a 3-1 victory here with a 2-0 win at Fratton Park.

THE VERDICT

I like the look of Aston Villa so far this season, I feel that they've improved, and I believe that this will show up in the results of these sort of fixtures.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

Aston Villa 2-1 Portsmouth

PERCENTAGE ESTIMATE :

Aston Villa 55% - Draw 24% - Portsmouth 21%

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

I'll take ASTON VILLA to win.

You could try OVER 2.5 GOALS if you want - it's a slightly higher price and both teams have quality strikers. I prefer match result bets to goals totals though.