Roy Keane once said that most teams are beaten before they even reach the pitch at Old Trafford and for Pompey this statement couldn't hold more truth. We tend to concede early goals often and lack any real belief at the home of Manchester United.
It's a psychological barrier that the seemingly "lesser" teams can't break. Pompey are no longer in that bracket and yet we still don't go onto the pitch and show any real belief that we can beat United, which is such a contrast to when we play them at Fratton Park.
If we do dare to put up a fight on their turf then they've got Wayne Rooney to bail them out. Whenever Pompey look like they might get a result at Old Trafford the irritant happens to spring into life and score the winning goal.
You want more evidence? Here's a chronology of Pompey's games against the Red Devils since 2003.
01/01/03: Manchester United 4 Pompey 1 (FA Cup Round Three)
The result of this tie didn't matter so much to Pompey fans as we were gunning for the First Division title. Even so, it took United just four minutes to take the lead after a Van Nistelrooy penalty and then David Beckham got a second soon after.
Despite Steve Stone's goal and a push for an equaliser, Van Nistelrooy grabbed his second penalty of the game and Paul Scholes added a fourth in the last minute to complete the first Pompey defeat at Old Trafford.
01/10/03: Manchester United 3 Pompey 0 (Premier League)
Diego Forlan's 37th minute strike broke through the Pompey resistance as Roy Keane and Cristiano Ronaldo added late goals. If United weren't so poor during this game then only God knows how many Pompey would have conceded.
26/02/05: Manchester United 2 Pompey 1 (Premier League)
Despite our woeful form at the start of 2007 it looked like we might take something from Old Trafford after Gary O'Neil scored a peach of a volley to cancel out Wayne Rooney's early goal. However, the annoying upstart scored again in the last ten minutes to dash Pompey's hopes of taking a point.
03/12/05: Manchester United 3 Pompey 0 (Premier League)
Pompey only lasted twenty minutes in this game before conceding to a Paul Scholes header. Wayne Rooney then continued his crusade against Portsmouth with a goal before Van Nistelrooy added a third as we crumbled once again.
04/11/06: Manchester United 3 Pompey 0 (Premier League)
This result came about mainly because of the fact we were missing three of our first choice back four. It only took Fergie's men three minutes to take the lead after Louis Saha's penalty and the game was over after ten minutes after Ronaldo lashed in a free kick.
Nemanja Vidic added a third in the second half as Pompey showed no attacking intent once again, albeit with a weakened side.
27/01/07: Manchester United 2 Pompey 1 (FA Cup Round Four)
Pompey looked like holding out for a draw and a replay having rode their luck whilst defending well. On comes Wayne Rooney and before you know it we're 2-0 down after "that" chip over David James. We pulled one back through Kanu's deflection but it was too little, too late.
30/01/08: Manchester United 2 Pompey 0 (Premier League)
Two early goals from Cristiano Ronaldo (including a goal christened "the best free kick ever") meant this game was over quickly. Pompey showed no attacking threat and were lucky to only lose by two.
So since 2003 we have conceded a whopping nineteen goals at Old Trafford and have only scored three in reply. We haven't won at United since 1957 and with us playing poorly and United on fire recently then it looks like we'll be exiting the FA Cup on Saturday.
You could say that nearly every team in England has an awful record at Old Trafford but at least teams can go there and put up a fight more than we do. Pompey fans are very pessimistic about going up to Old Trafford and with so many star players in their side you can see why.
Still, there are positives to take into Saturday's game which will be talked about in the preview article tomorrow.