The stakes are just as high for the opposition as Guus Hiddink still belives Chelsea can win the league although anything but a win for them tomorrow would kill any faint title hopes the West Londoners might have had.
The visitors hold a 100% record under their Russian manager but I'm yet to be convinced that they are the real deal, especially after a somewhat lucky 2-1 win at home to Wigan on Saturday. Whilst that was happening Pompey rested and will be the fresher of the two sides going into the match.
Chelsea have already beaten us 4-0 twice this season. A lacklustre team were taken apart by Phil Scolari's side at Stamford Bridge on the opening day of the season and the teams met again in the third round of the Carling Cup at Fratton Park where Harry Redknapp's weakened side were humiliated once more.
I doubt Paul Hart's Pompey side will be taken apart so easily tomorrow as the team look more resolute under his stewardship and if we do get a result tomorrow then expect Hart and Kidd to stay on permanently until the end of the season at least.
I expect our caretaker manager will select the same team that drew with Stoke last week which looked a lot sturdier than in previous games despite conceding two dubious goals. I would also expect Chelsea's attacking players to severely test our defence tomorrow so we shall see how far we've come since that drastic result against Liverpool.
We should give them a tough match whatever happens but if we're to get anything then our frontmen really have to start producing. Peter Crouch hasn't scored a league goal since early December whilst Dave Nugent has faded in the last couple of games. We can't rely on Hermann Hreidarsson to score all the time so maybe Theofanis Gekas should be given a chance to show us what he can do.
The bottom line, however, is that anything from this game could be seen as a bonus because Chelsea have had a kick up the arse from their new gaffer and have refound their confidence and team spirit.
What Pompey fans will be hoping for most is that the other teams around us slip up, so here are the fixtures for the other relegation battlers (that being anyone from Bolton downwards) for reference:
West Brom vs Arsenal
Liverpool vs Sunderland
Newcastle vs Manchester United
Manchester City vs Aston Villa
Stoke vs Bolton
Blackburn vs Everton
Fulham vs Hull
Tottenham vs Middlesbrough
The bottom fixture stands out there. A draw would be great in that one because if, in the likely event we do get beaten then we won't want Redknapp to creep further away from us or Boro to overtake us, especially given that Stoke and Blackburn will also fancy their chances.
Whateever happens, a point from Chelsea would be extremely useful and if we managed to snatch all three then I'd be very positive about our survival chances.
Should the half-expected defeat be the outcome then that trip to Middlesbrough takes on a whole new level of importance...
Predicted Starting Line-Ups
Pompey
GK: David JAMES
RB: Glen JOHNSON
CB: Sol CAMPBELL
CB: Sylvain DISTIN
LB: Hermann HREIDARSSON
RM: Jermaine PENNANT
CM: Sean DAVIS
CM: Angelos BASINAS
LM: Niko KRANJCAR
CF: David NUGENT
CF: Peter CROUCH
Chelsea
GK: Petr CECH
RB: Juliano BELLETTI
CB: John TERRY
CB: Ricardo CARVALHO
LB: Ashley COLE
DM: John-Obi MIKEL
CM: Michael BALLACK
CM: Frank LAMPARD
LWF: Florent MALOUDA
RWF: Nicolas ANELKA
CF: Didier DROGBA
Last Time: Pompey 1 Chelsea 1
Pompey finally earned their first point against Chelsea as Jermain Defoe scored on his debut to cancel out Nicolas Anelka's breakaway goal. Defoe squandered a couple more decent chances whilst we should have also had at least one penalty in what was a highly entertaining game.
Pundit Watch
Lawro: Away Win (1-2)
My Prediction: It's difficult for me to predict Pompey to beat a team who have hammered us twice already this season and I just have a horrible feeling that Chelsea will snatch it due to our inability to score.
Pompey 0 Chelsea 1