English League One
2013-02-12 - Hartlepool United vs Portsmouth
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English League One
Tuesday 12 February 2013 - Kick Off 7:45pm
Hartlepool United
It looked like Hartlepool United were dead in the League One water a couple of months ago after a terrible start to the season, but things could be changing at Victoria Park. They have a chance to move off the bottom of the table and it seems that removing Neale Cooper as manager and replacing him with John Hughes could be the spark that potentially saves them.
However, Hartlepool have a lot of work still to do as they are 12 points from the safety zone with 16 games left to play. Playing the team directly above them at least gives them the chance to close the gap to Scunthorpe United, but they need to improve at home to give themselves a chance to do so. The side have a 2-3-9 record with 11 goals scored and 23 conceded.
Hartlepool have lost just 2 of their last 7 games in the League and they have picked up 3 wins in that time to give themselves half a chance of survival. They had lost 7 consecutive games at home in the League, but Hartlepool did beat Notts County 2-1 in their last outing at Victoria Park.
Portsmouth
The remarkable fall from grace for Portsmouth continues and they look like one of the sides that will be getting relegated to League Two next season. Portsmouth are also still in very real peril of being pulled from the League completely with a takeover being needed to be completed by the Summer and to get them out of administration if the club is to survive.
They are 23rd in the League One table and they are now 11 points from safety as Portsmouth look very unlikely to pull out of the trouble they find themselves in. Portsmouth have a 2-4-9 away record in the League, scoring 16 goals and conceding 31 in those games.
Portsmouth have now lost 9 games in a row in the League and they have failed to win any of their last 19 games in all competitions with only 3 draws stopping them being on a completely terrible run. They have lost 4 straight away games since earning back to back surprise draws at Coventry City and Tranmere Rovers.
Head to Head
Hartlepool United beat Portsmouth 1-3 at Fratton Park a couple of weeks ago.
This will be the first time they have met at Victoria Park in 23 seasons when Portsmouth earned a 0-3 win.
Prediction
Both of these sides concede plenty of goals and I like the chance of seeing at least 3 goals in this one.
I think Hartlepool United will win the game, but taking a team at the bottom of the table at odds on looks a little too short for me and Portsmouth did earn a surprise 2-2 draw at Tranmere Rovers in December to think they could stop their run of 9 straight losses.
Neither team has had a clean sheet at home/away respectively since September and both have conceded plenty in recent games. Hartlepool have 15 goals in their last 7 home games, Portsmouth have conceded 16 in their last 7 away games so goals should be in order here at Victoria Park.
The Pick :
Hartlepool United 2-1 Portsmouth
