English Premier
2008-03-02 - Everton vs Portsmouth
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Everton
Everton will continue with their quest to win a Champions League place as they hope to extend their lead further in 4th place. Liverpool play earlier on and so Everton should know exactly what they can earn with another win. This season they are 8-2-3 at Goodison Park with 24 goals scored and 11 conceded. Their goals scored at home is only bettered by Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham. Only Manchester City, United and Arsenal have won more home games.
Everton have only lost 1 of their last 9 games in all competitions and have won their last 4 in a row with only 1 goal conceded. They are unbeaten in 7 Premier League games and have won their last 2. Everton have won 6 of their last 8 games at home in the league and have only lost 1 of those games. Only Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool have won at Goodison this season in the league.
Mikel Arteta is likely to miss this game but Lee Carsley is available as his suspension has not yet begun.
Portsmouth (9th)
Portsmouth sit in 9th position in the league but are only 6 points behind their opponents in 4th and a win here would put them in the hunt for the final Champions League place while moving the team up to 7th. Portsmouth are 8-1-5 away from home scoring 21 and conceding 16. Only Chelsea have won more games away from home than Portsmouth this season.
Portsmouth have only lost 1 of their last 7 games in all competitions and have won their last 3 games. They have only lost 1 of their last 5 league games and that was at Manchester United. Portsmouth have won 3 and lost 3 of their last 6 away games in the league. Pompey have lost 4 of their 6 away games at top half clubs with them coming at Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and United but they have won at Aston Villa and Blackburn.
David Nugent and Pedro Mendes miss this game but Kanu, Jermain Defoe, John Utaka and Milan Baros are available.
Head to head
Everton have beaten Portsmouth 3 out of 4 meetings at Goodison Park including a 3-0 win last season. Earlier this season the sides played out a 0-0 draw, the only draw in their last 9 matches.
PREDICTION :
Everton have proven their pedigree at home and are very tough to beat here. They have won many games there already this season and have played well in recent weeks.
Portsmouth have been superb away from home, and its only results at Fratton Park that prevent them from being closer to Everton.
However they have struggled at those teams right near the top of the table and I feel they will just come up short against Everton too.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
EVERTON 2-1 PORTSMOUTH
