Team News
Jamie O'Hara is suspended because he has picked up five yellow cards which means Hayden Mullins could retain his place in midfield as Kevin-Prince Boateng returns after recovering from illness.
Asmir Begovic should keep goal again whilst this will be the last game that Aruna Dindane, Nadir Belhadj, Hassan Yebda and Kanu are available for before they jet off to Angola for the African Cup of Nations.
Pompey will be boosted by the absense of Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas, who was the catalyst for their win over Aston Villa on Monday. Robin van Persie continues to miss out with a long-term injury whilst Arsene Wenger may rotate his side a little because of a cramped fixture list.
The Match
With reports that Lens are set to sue the club over unpaid transfer payments and more heavy rumours about staff not being paid on time yet again, Pompey's players need to focus on trying to get a result against a team who are firing on all cylinders at the moment.
Just to be clear on the task at hand; Arsenal are unbeaten in five games, have scored more goals (82) and lost less games than any other Premier League club in 2009 and have already found the net 47 times in the league this season.
There have been some Pompey fans that suggest that we may have a better chance than usual because Fabregas and van Persie are missing but I only need to point to last season when a stronger Pompey side than we have right now were trounced 3-0 by Arsenal's reserves.
We may have beaten Liverpool in our last home game but Arsenal are a much better side than the Scousers and the Boxing Day showing at West Ham has not filled me with confidence going into this extremely tough game.
Avram Grant has stated in the press that he'd like to see his players take a more aggressive approach to the game and I agree, Michael Brown and co. are going to have to be nasty without getting sent off if we're to have any chance in this one, because we don't have the quality to try and outplay the Gunners.
We need to keep them pressed in their own half if possible, and we need to deny their players space as well as time on the ball. That's the only way we're going to beat a team of Arsenal's quality.
Our defence are also going to have to forget how they played at Upton Park and play more like the unit that kept Torres and Gerrard so quiet last time out whilst Dindane will need to justify why Lens are suing us over outstanding loan payments for him, because we should be suing them given his recent performances.
A win would be absolutely massive given that the majority of our relegation rivals dropped points this week but I'd take a draw simply because it would be more than I am expecting tomorrow evening.
There may be enough going on off the pitch to write a novel but tomorrow we need to forget about that for 90 minutes and try and inspire our lads to get a result.
Then we can protest all we want, but I doubt it would get us very far....
Predicted Starting Line-Ups
Pompey
GK: Asmir BEGOVIC
RB: Steve FINNAN
CB: Younes KABOUL
CB: Tal BEN-HAIM
LB: Hermann HREIDARSSON
RM: Kevin-Prince BOATENG
CM: Hassan YEBDA
CM: Michael BROWN
CM: Hayden MULLINS
LM: Nadir BELHADJ
CF: Frederic PIQUIONNE
Arsenal
GK: Manuel ALMUNIA
RB: Bacary SAGNA
CB: Thomas VERMAELEN
CB: William GALLAS
LB: Armand TRAORE
CM: DENILSON
CM: Aaron RAMSEY
CM: Abou DIABY
RWF: Carlos VELA
LWF: EDUARDO Da Silva
CF: Nicklas BENDTNER
Last Time: Portsmouth 0 Arsenal 3
A weakened Arsenal side showed up at Fratton Park and gave Pompey a footballing lesson. David James allowed Bendtner's tame header to go through his gloves and the Dane scored again from the penalty spot despite Arshavin telling referee Lee Mason that Davis' challenge on him was fair.
Pompey had plenty of chances but didn't make them count and were hit by the suckerpunch when Arsenal counterattacked and Vela added a third to complete a miserable day for all Pompey fans who would be forced to wait longer for Premier League survival.
Pundit Watch
Lawro: Away Win (0-2)
Paul Merson: Away Win (2-3)
My Prediction: I dread to think what will happen if Arsenal score early, but if we can be overly physical with them and not face the wrath of a petulent ref then we may have a chance. The safe money is on Arsenal though, but I've been wrong often this season...
Portsmouth 0 Arsenal 2