Eng. Championship
2011-08-27 - Portsmouth vs Cardiff
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : English Championship
Saturday 27 August 2011 - Kickoff 3pm
Portsmouth
The rise and (almost complete) fall of Portsmouth should be a warning to clubs who are seduced by the idea of a 'foreign investor' pumping a lot of money into the club. Portsmouth were very close to folding permanently, but at least now they can get back to concentrating on affairs on the pitch and try to push back into the big time.
Steve Cotterill has guided the good ship Portsmouth through some choppy waters over the last 12 months since their relegation from the Premier League, but he has finally got some calm back. They have made a decent, if unspectacular, start to the season after picking up 5 points from their opening 4 games. Pompey are 1-0-1 at Fratton Park so far, scoring 1 goal and conceding 1 goal.
Portsmouth were beaten 0-1 here by Barnet in the 1st Round of the Carling Cup which meant they had a free week to prepare for this game. That defeat meant the team lost back to back games 0-1 at Fratton Park to start the season as Brighton did the same days after the Barnet loss, but Portsmouth did beat Reading 1-0 most recently and have now kept back to back clean sheets in the League.
The team proved tough to beat at home last season when they finished with an 8-9-6 record, scoring 31 goals and conceding 26.
Benjani has rejoined Portsmouth and is in line to make his first start in this game. Christian Dailly and Hermann Hreidarsson are both hoping to return to the squad after missing the trip to Bristol City last week.
Cardiff
Malky Mackay took over from Dave Jones in the Summer, but the bigger concern for Cardiff fans was how they were going to replace the goals of Michael Chopra and Jay Bothroyd who both left. Robert Earnshaw has gone some way to helping the fans forget those two players by scoring twice in the opening 4 League games they have played, while Kenny Miller is still settling into his new club.
Cardiff have 7 points from a possible 12 to start the season and sit in 8th position in the Championship. They have a 1-1-0 record away from the Cardiff City Stadium, scoring 2 goals and conceding 1 in those games.
The team had to work hard to get their name in the hat for the draw for Round 3 of the Carling Cup on Tuesday night. It looked like being an easy night as they took a 2-0 lead against Huddersfield, but they were forced to score an injury time goal to take the game to extra time and eventually won 5-3.
Cardiff have won 0-1 at West Ham United this season and drew 1-1 at Burnley, but I think the side can consider themselves lucky to have as many point as they do as they could easily have lost both games.
Filip Kiss and Aron Gunnarsson are both set to be available for selection. Kiss could be making his debut since joining on loan this Summer.
Head to Head
The teams met for the first time in the League for some time last season, with Cardiff winning both games and keeping clean sheets in both games too.
The game at Fratton Park took place in August, so the 0-2 result could be excused considering the vague future of the club and with recent relegation behind Portsmouth.
Portsmouth did beat Cardiff in the FA Cup Final of 2008 and also won an away Carling Cup game in 2004.
Prediction
To give you an idea about how tough the Championship is, there are 10 games being played on Saturday with only 3 teams set as odds on favourites.
Of the other 7 games, the shortest price you can get for any team winning is 2.40 so this should give you an idea of the nature of the League and how anyone can beat anyone on any given day.
In saying that, I am going to take one of the bigger priced home teams of the weekend to come through with a vital 3 points here.
The Cardiff team are stretched in terms of the squad at the moment and were forced to play 120 minutes on Tuesday. With Portsmouth being able to concentrate on this game alone, I think they may be able to take advantage of any fatigue in the away teams legs.
Portsmouth have proven tough to crack in front of their passionate home fans, although I am concerned with the lack of goals they have in the side. Hopefully the signing of Benjani can rectify that straight away and Pompey can celebrate a home win on Saturday evening.
Cardiff themselves have been outplayed in 2 away games so far this season and have been fortunate to get as many points as they have and I am counting on the tiredness and a change of luck to cost them here.
The Pick :
Portsmouth 2-1 Cardiff
