Barclays Premier League
Portsmouth v West Ham United
Fratton Park
Tuesday 26 January
7.45pm
Referee: Andre Marriner
WHUTV - ALL THE NEWS AND VIEWS, ACTION AND REACTION
+ LIVE AUDIO COMMENTARY
• West Ham United travel to Portsmouth to play their second Premier League game of the decade. They will be hoping to maintain their unbeaten start to it following the battling 0-0 draw at Aston Villa last time out.
• It will be West Ham's first match since joint chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold acquired a 50 per cent stake in the club.
• The Hammers last met Portsmouth on Boxing Day 2009, when they won 2-0 through goals from Alessandro Diamanti and Radoslav Kovac.
• West Ham will be hoping for a repeat of last season's corresponding fixture when they recorded an emphatic 4-1 victory at Fratton Park. That match was also on Boxing Day 2008
• Those two victories have helped the London side remain unbeaten in three games against the team from the south coast.
• The point at Villa Park on 17 January moved Gianfranco Zola's side up to 16th in the Barclays Premier League standings. A victory at Fratton Park could lift them up two places. Portsmouth prop up the table at present but a three-point return could move them to within a point of 19th-placed Bolton Wanderers.
• This will be the 34th meeting between the two clubs. West Ham United have 13 wins, with five draws.
Last time out
Sunday 17 January 2009
Barclays Premier League
Aston Villa 0-0 West Ham United
West Ham United: Green, Faubert, Tomkins, Upson, Spector, Kovac (Stanislas 62), Behrami, Parker (Diamanti 57), Noble, Collison, Nouble (Da Costa 90)
Subs not used: Kurucz, Daprela, Jimenez, Sears
Saturday 23 January 2009
FA Cup fourth round
Portsmouth 2-1 Sunderland
Portsmouth: Begovic, Vanden Borre, Hreidarsson, Kaboul, Brown (Basinas 9), Diop (Mullins 68), Mokoena, Utaka, Boateng, Wilson, Piquionne (Webber 89)
Subs not used: Ashdown, Sowah
Goals: Utaka 42, 57
Last meeting
The teams last met at the Boleyn Ground on Boxing Day 2009 when a 23rd-minute penalty from Alessandro Diamanti was added to by Radoslav Kovac's 89th-minute header to secure a 2-0 win for the hosts.
West Ham United: Green, Faubert, Tomkins, Upson, Ilunga, Collison, Kovac, Parker, Noble (Jimenez 16), Diamanti (Behrami 72), Franco (Nouble 90)
Subs not used: Stech, Spector, da Costa, Stanislas
Goals: Diamanti 23, Kovac 89
Portsmouth: Begovic, Finnan, Ben-Haim, Kaboul, Belhadj (Boateng 46), Hreidarsson, Mullins, Brown (Utaka 79), O'Hara, Piquionne, Dindane (Kanu 53)
Subs not used: Ashdown, Wilson, Diop, Yebda
Head to head
(Last six meetings, league unless stated)
26 December 2009 - West Ham United 2-0 Portsmouth
26 December 2008 - Portsmouth 1-4 West Ham United
15 November 2008 - West Ham United 0-0 Portsmouth
8 April 2008 - West Ham United 0-1 Portsmouth
27 October 2007 - Portsmouth 0-0 West Ham United
26 December 2006 - West Ham United 1-2 Portsmouth
Overall record v Portsmouth (all competitions): W 13, D 5, L 14
Next up
• West Ham play their first home Barclays Premier League game of 2010 when Blackburn Rovers visit the Boleyn Ground on Saturday. Portsmouth have a tricky-looking trip to Manchester City the following day.
Referee
• Tuesday's referee is Andre Marriner, who was the man in the middle for the Barclays Asia Trophy defeat by Tottenham Hotspur in Beijing on 29 July. He also took charge of the 3-2 defeat by Liverpool on 19 September, the 2-2 draw with Sunderland on 31 October, when Radoslav Kovac and Kenwyne Jones were both sent off, and the 3-1 defeat by Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday 15 December.
• Marriner began refereeing in 1992, progressing through the Birmingham Amateur Football League and Southern League to take his place as a Football League assistant referee in 2000.
• Marriner became a Football League referee in 2003, before taking charge of his first Premier League fixture, Charlton Athletic versus Norwich City, the following year.
• The official joined the Select Group of officials in 2005 and is now on the list of FIFA international referees.
West Ham United
• Victory at Fratton Park would complete West Ham's first 'double' of the season.
• Last season's win at Fratton Park was the Hammers' first victory on the south coast in eight attempts. The previous maximum was back in 1993.
• West Ham have not won away from home since their opening-day 2-0 victory at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
• The Hammers have scored all seven of the penalties they have been awarded this season, a Barclays Premier League high.
• West Ham have scored 28 goals this season in the league with eleven different scorers on target. Carlton Cole leads the way (seven), with Alessandro Diamanti (five) and Guille Franco (three) next in line. Jack Collison (two), Matthew Upson (two), Junior Stanislas (two), Manuel da Costa, Mark Noble, Luis Jimenez, Zavon Hines and Radoslav Kovac have also registered.
• Scott Parker has been cautioned seven times this season and Franco five. Julien Faubert, Cole, Collison, Kovac and Noble are each on four yellow cards, but will not be suspended if they receive a fifth as the FA disciplinary deadline has passed.
• Only Robert Green has played in every league game for the club this season. He is on a run of 109 successive league starts.
• Collison has more assists (four) than anyone else at the club. Noble has put in the most crosses (13), while Matthew Upson has made the most defensive blocks and the most defensive clearances (27 and 21 respectively).
• Cole is on a run of 14 goals in 25 league starts since Boxing Day 2008 when he scored the second goal in a 4-1 win at Portsmouth.
Portsmouth
• Despite their lowly position, Portsmouth will have been given a boost by the weekend's 2-1 FA Cup victory against Sunderland at Fratton Park.
• That result makes it three games unbeaten for Avram Grant's side in all competitions, following a draw and then a replay win against Coventry City in the third round - their first two games of 2010
• Portsmouth have lost seven of their ten home Premier League games so far, but are yet to register a draw at Fratton Park.
• Pompey have not won at home in the league since the 19 December victory against Liverpool, when they beat the Merseysiders 2-0.
• Portsmouth have conceded more penalties than anyone else in the Premier League (seven) this season. They also have the highest shots per goal score in the whole division (15).
• Aruna Dindane is their top league goalscorer with four strikes.
• Michael Brown was 33 on Monday.
Team news
• Carlton Cole is in contention for his first game of 2010 after playing a full part in training over the weekend. West Ham's top scorer had been sidelined with a knee injury picked up in the home game with Burnley on 28 November.
• It remains to be seen whether the England international will start though and, if not, the forward role could once again be taken by Frank Nouble, who impressed greatly on his full Premier League debut at Villa Park.
• Guille Franco is unlikely to play again this month as he continues his recovery from a muscle strain.
• Herita Ilunga is also making progress with his recovery from a hamstring injury, although he will not be considered before the weekend at the earliest. Scott Parker has also been working hard to overcome the tightness in his hamstring suffered at Villa Park.
• Danny Gabbidon and Kieron Dyer (both hamstring) could be back in full training next week.
• Zavon Hines (knee), Luis Boa Morte (knee) and Calum Davenport (leg) are all long-term absentees.
• For the hosts, striker David Nugent is back from his loan spell at Burnley, but is not eligible as the deal has not yet expired.
• David James' future has been the subject of much speculation but he did train with the rest of his team-mates on Monday. Mike Williamson is in talks with Newcastle United about a possible move and is unlikely to feature.
Old boys
• If selected, Hayden Mullins will be making his second appearance against West Ham since his 26 January 2009 switch to the south coast for an undisclosed fee. He signed for West Ham from Crystal Palace for £800,000 in October 2003 and had been the longest-serving first-team player at the Boleyn Ground. The midfielder, 30, played 178 league games for the club, scoring four goals.
• David James moved to West Ham United for £3.5m on 11 July 2001, signing a four-year contract. He played 102 times for the Hammers before signing for Manchester City on 14 January 2004.
• Other players to have played for both teams include: Greg Campbell, Lee Chapman, Jermain Defoe, Bill Ford, Hayden Foxe, Shaka Hislop, Billy James, Glen Johnson, Bill Joyce, Alex McDonald, Nicky Morgan, Sebastien Schemmel, Peter Shearing, Teddy Sheringham, Roy Smith, Stephen Smith, Pavel Srnicek, Alan Stephenson, Ron Tindall, Svetoslav Todorov, Charlie Whitchurch.
General information
• For ticket information, click here.
• The weather forecast is for a clear and chilly night in Portsmouth, where temperatures could get as low as -3C.