Team News
George Burley will hand home debuts to loanees James Vaughan and Anthony Gardner, whilst Edgar Davids could make a return to the team after making his debut against Pompey in the last round of the Carling Cup.
Wilfried Zaha is suspended whilst Darren Ambrose is still missing with a leg injury.
It's hugely doubtful that Aaron Mokoena will take any part in this game after being stretchered off against Ipswich, although thankfully the injury is not too serious. Michael Brown should replace him after starting on the bench on Saturday.
Otherwise, expect the same side that performed well against Ipswich.
The Match
We're only six games into the season but this already has the makings of a "six-pointer" at the foot of the Championship table. Our hosts are in terrible form having lost their last four league games, whilst we are yet to win a league game and have only scored one goal in that time.
Still, after the improvement made on Saturday I think that we can beat the struggling Eagles and get our season off and running. George Burley's team have the worst defence in the league - a stat that our goal-shy team should inspire, and we look much more creative with Kanu and Lawrence in the side.
My main worry is that we've been absolutely dire away from Fratton Park this season. Coventry was awful and Preston was even worse, so I'm hoping that we don't become another "can only perform at home" side that loses the majority of its away matches.
However, after Saturday's performance I am confident we can finally begin to turn things around. I realise I've probably set myself up for a fall there, especially as we love to end teams' losing streaks but I have a good feeling about this one.
Predicted Starting Line-Ups
Crystal Palace
GK: Julian SPERONI
RB: Nathaniel CLYNE
CB: Anthony GARDNER
CB: Paddy McCARTHY
LB: Julien BENNETT
RM: Kieron CADOGAN
CM: Owen GARVAN
CM: Neil DANNS
LM: Andy DORMAN
CF: James VAUGHAN
CF: Pablo COUNAGO
Pompey
GK: Jamie ASHDOWN
RB: Joel WARD
CB: Ibrahima SONKO
CB: Ricardo ROCHA
LB: Carl DICKINSON
RM: Liam LAWRENCE
CM: Hayden MULLINS
CM: Michael BROWN
LM: David NUGENT
SS: KANU
CF: Dave KITSON
Last Time: Crystal Palace 0 Portsmouth 1 (Premier League - 26/12/2004)
This was a freezing Boxing Day clash which saw the game delayed by half an hour due to ice. Linvoy Primus scored the winner that day, giving Velimir Zajec and the travelling Pompey fans a nice late Christmas present.
My Prediction
So long as we play the way we did on Saturday, I'm confident we can win our first game of the season and plunge Palace further into trouble.
Crystal Palace 1 Portsmouth 2