Portsmouth V Birmingham City
Football : England : FA Cup Quarter Finals
Saturday 6th March 2010 – Kickoff 12:30pm

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It’s been a year to forget for the south coast side, with ownership of the club changing hands 4 times, before becoming the first Premier League club to go into administration before their now almost guaranteed relegation.

The FA Cup remains though, and Portsmouth will no doubt play their hearts out in front of a capacity crowd at Fratton Park, to give something back to their heartbroken fans.

Portsmouth

The misery continued for Portsmouth as it became the first club to enter into administration. Last Friday’s decision means the club will now be docked 9 points.

Portsmouth are currently sitting rock bottom of the league on 19 points, 5 points from safety, and I think the deduction puts the final nail into that coffin. It’s a really sad state of affairs for an old club with a great history and excellent fans and they deserved more than to have their club destroyed by the way it has been run recently.

The one very bleak flicker of hope here is that they are still surprisingly in the FA Cup, and Avram Grant will hope his team can beat Birmingham on Saturday and give the fans a possible trip to Wembley to look forward to.

Pompey got to the quarterfinals with a 4-1 thumping of rivals Southampton. With the nightmare that is this season, it gave the fans something to cheer about, although the next match, a league encounter at Stoke saw Pompey lose to a last gasp goal after having led for most of the game.

One could be excused for thinking that all the off-pitch misery could have led to the players heads dropping, but the opposite seems to have happened. The players went out at Burnley and put on a heroic display in beating Burnley 2-1. With everything now lost, they seem to be going out and giving it their all week after week, and it’s all for their fans. That is the kind of attitude I like to see in a team if I am to stake money on them.

The home form has been better for Portsmouth, with 3 of their 5 league wins coming at Fratton Park. The team looks like it is now going to come forward and attack in every game, what with nothing to lose, and in a cup game at home, I see them charging forward and giving Birmingham all they can handle.

Portsmouth, despite it’s sorry league position, have managed to score in each of their last 9 home games, and I think the attitude, coupled by their determination and the strength of the opponents will lead to at least one Portsmouth goal, perhaps more of they are to continue this little fairytale in the FA Cup.

Birmingham City

Alex McLeish must surely fancy his chances here. His Birmingham side have been quite the surprise package this season, currently sitting in 8th position in the Premier League. For a side that were expected to be fighting a relegation battle, they’ve surprised everyone by now being ever so close to a place in Europe next season.

City will be up against it here though. Against a team that has nothing else to play for, and a raucous gathering of home fans cheering their team on. The cause for concern here is Birmingham’s away form. While they have racked up 26 points at home, their travels have netted them only 14. They have also lost all of their last 3 away fixtures in the league.

Funnily enough though, all Birmingham City's wins in previous rounds of the FA Cup have come away from St. Andrews, albeit in close games won by a 1 goal margin. Easier ties include Nottingham forest and Derby, whom they needed a last gasp winner to come from behind against. In between that was the more impressive win, at Everton.

Birmingham have none of the off-pitch worries of their opponents, and McLeish will have his boys completely focused to come and try and capitalise on Portsmouth’s worries. Surely they manage to score here, but will it be enough to beat a team that is going to war for its fans every time it steps on the pitch.

THe Betting Verdict

This is quite possibly the last big memorable game to be played down at Fratton Park this season (or ever?), and I reckon Portsmouth will give it everything to repay the fans support with a trip to Wembley.

Both teams are messy at the back and can be scored against and will be hungry to attack and book themselves a semi-final spot, so I expect a few goals to be scored.

I know every neutral will be cheering on Portsmouth, who are on the market now with a price tag of around £30m, so if you absolutely must have a bet on a side to win, stick your money on Portsmouth and hop on their emotional roller coaster.

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Both teams to score @ 2.00 (Bet365)
Over 2.5 goals @ 2.40 (Bet365)

Portsmouth to win @ 2.62 (Bet365)