There was just the one Premier League game this weekend, with Portsmouth producing for caretaker boss Paul Hart, helped along by another abject display from City on the road. Here’s the notes…
Portsmouth 2 Man City 0
Caretaker Paul Hart welcomed back Pennant after he was ineligible against Liverpool last time out. Kranjcar also started having returned from injury as Mullins and Belhadj dropped out. The home side adopted a 4-2-3-1 formation with Basinas and Davis holding the midfield in front of Kranjcar, Pennant and Nugent. The latter was deployed on the left wing, drifting in to support Crouch up front with some effect.
As for City, Hughes was forced into changes with Wright-Phillips starting a three-match ban for his kick-out at Delap a fortnight ago. Dunne was serving the last of his four-match ban and Richards missed out through injury. He sustained a recurrence of a hamstring injury for England’s U21’s in midweek. That meant a start for Elano in midfield, while Shaleum Logan made a debut at right-back. Zabaleta again kept his holding midfield role, although it will be interesting to see if this changes with Dunne’s return next weekend. Given that Hughes started with Logan at right-back in this one, it would suggest that he’s keen on keeping Zabaleta in that role.
City’s dismal run of form, particularly on the road continued then and double gameweek investors in their players saw little return. Ireland and Robinho – undoubtedly City’s most effective attacking players were again almost anonymous away from Eastlands. Bellamy was all-effort up front, he failed to get any significant attacking support. Despite one world class save from David James, it was a comfortable clean sheet for the home side and that fact that this was Pompey’s first cleanie in 11 league games tells you as much about City as Portsmouth’s improved defensive display.
Hughes’ side have scored just 4 goals in their last 5 thanks to their away form and given that 3 of the next 4 are away from home, Ireland, Robinho and Bellamy owners will be getting decidedly twitchy about the wisdom of keeping the faith.
In the Fantasy Premier League game, the decision to stick or twist may come down to their price increases. Personally I’m reluctant to get rid of Ireland because I brought him in for 6.0 and he has since risen to 7.0 which would mean sacrificing a cool 1.0. That’s fine if you feel that Ireland is unlikely to produce from this point but I’m not so sure. I still feel that he can provide value at 6.0 – he is the one player who has previously scored goals away from home, while at Eastlands his attacking runs have never dropped off, even those his points have wavered. Those fantasy managers who have only recently invested in Ireland and Bellamy are certainly more likely to cash them in without a loss, and in the short-term (liv whm AVL che) – it appears to make sense.
As for Pompey, this win will provide a massive boost and certainly Johnson issued a major reminder to fantasy managers as to his potential in their back four. The missing fixture in gameweek 27 will likely kill off any thought of short-term investment but I’m looking at gameweeks 31-34 as a possible window to take another look (hul WBA BOL new). By that stage Portsmouth should have their new boss in place, and we should know about their lineup, formation and form for the run-in.