Pompey Preview: Guess what. Injuries. 2 May, 2009

We have to concentrate on another league game now and try put the massive game next week against Man United to the back of our minds. It’s hard I know, I’m sure the players are feeling it too and I have no doubt tomorrow’s tactics will be with the Semi Final 2nd leg in mind.

This isn’t a nothing game though. 3 points here will secure our 4th place spot and with United and Chelsea still to play would be a massive relief if we had the Champions League spot in the bag. Not just that but we need to keep the pace up with Chelsea and have the fight to chase 3rd. The difference between 3rd and 4th is massive now; it means automatic qualifications to the groups as opposed to a difficult qualifier. Chelsea play local rivals Fulham who will be well up for a fight against a team also with a Semi Final in mind. Hopefully Fulham can do us a favour there.

It seems to be a recurring theme – A new match preview, a new injury to worry about. Arsene Wenger has described Eduardo as the unluckiest player he’s even met as he is ruled out for the season with his groin problem. It’s such a shame to lose him as he’s absolute quality. I just hope he takes the time to recover properly now and look towards a strong 09/10 season; was good to see him back though. Silvestre’s groin also puts him out and is a doubt for Tuesday. Johan Djourou will no doubt take his position and I’m looking for a strong performance today ahead of the United game.

I’m not sure who Wenger will rest here. I’m thinking Theo, possibly Cesc, maybe Adebayor but I don’t see how tired he can be after Wednesday night’s efforts. I can only guess, so here is my guess:

Almunia
Sagna – Toure – Djourou – Gibbs
Eboue – Fabregas (c) – Denilson – Arshavin
Bendtner – Vela

I think this is a good chance for Bendtner and Vela to prove their worth ahead of Tuesday going into a game knowing we need goals. Not only that but Eduardo and maybe van Persie will be out and Adebayor will certainly need a partner.

I’m sorry this preview is referencing Tuesday night’s game so much but that’s the nature of the situation we’re in. All four teams will be doing it this weekend I’m sure. We have to find the right balance between resting and still winning the game. There’s been enough talk in the last couple of days saying that they are up for this game.

I definitely am, I’m going to this one, getting a train at 10:22 from Bournemouth to Portsmouth along the coast. I think it’ll be my first away trip since Fulham at the beginning of the season. I’ve been looking forward to this for ages now, can’t wait to mix with the away crowd again. Should be a good day.

I’ll do a write up of my trip and hopefully a few photos tomorrow. I better get to sleep now, early start. Enjoy the game today, thanks for reading Gooners.