Portsmouth v Wolves: Goals not on forecast for Fratton Park
In the grand scheme of things this game is pretty pointless. Portsmouth are down, Wolves are safe. What is there to play for? Well Pompey players want to work their way into Avram Grant’s FA Cup plans while Mick McCarthy’s men will ultimately want to prove that they deserve another crack at the Premier League next season.
Portsmouth secured their first win of the season against Wolves on a rain-drenched afternoon at Molineux back in October and they have the chance to complete their first league double over McCarthy’s men since 1927. However, despite booking their place in the FA Cup Final with victory over Tottenham Hotspur, Portsmouth haven’t won at Fratton Park since two late goals secured all three points in a 3-2 win over Hull City in March.
Meanwhile Wolves have gone back to basics in order to get the points needed to secure their safety. Since picking up seven points from a possible nine in games against Burnley, Villa and West Ham, they haven’t really given their fans much to shout about in terms of goals but they have secured their place in the top flight for another season. Ebanks-Blake’s equaliser against Blackburn last weekend was their first goal in about 570 minutes but they had also kept three clean sheets over those five games and only Arsenal have beaten them in their past eight outings.
Unfortunately it doesn’t look like it may be the best of games for the fans. Portsmouth have the poorest home record in the league while Wolves have the least effective attack in the top flight and their past three meetings have produced just one goal.
