prem preview: derby county–portsmouth
 
what: premier league
who: derby county (3rd, championship, 84pts) v portsmouth (9th, prem, 54pts)
when: saturday, 11th august, 2007, kick-off 15:00 local where: pride park stadium, derby

rams not ready
every season the newly promoted clubs to the premier league come under the microscope, and many pundits mainly predict doom and gloom to all those who have gained promotion. the rams have fallen into this category after gaining promotion via the play-offs, and it is surely a tag that manager billy davies could do without, especially as he recently admitted he is “not anywhere near” having the squad he wants for this season’s premier league campaign. the scot feels the rams are weak in comparison to their rivals, and said “we’ve got to do a lot of signings to take ourselves up to the level of competition in the premier league”, and some pundits have already drawn comparisons between derby and watford 12 months ago. it seems that the pundits have written them off even before a ball has been kicked. just like aidy boothroyd, davies has refused to be held to ransom in “a crazy transfer market”, and the rams reinforcements have been thin on the ground (which could explain why davies feels they are not ready to compete).

redknapp the wheeler dealer
in stark contrast to billy davies, harry redknapp has ‘dabbled’ in the transfer market once again, and used the cash from foreign investment (provided by alexandre gaydamark) to further strengthen his side. nearly £13 million has been spent on new strikers david nugent, and john utaka, following the departures of andrew cole, collins mbesuma, and svetoslav todrov. questions have been raised over their signatures, as nugent as never been a prolific scorer, and utaka scored ten goals in 35 games for rennes last term. despite redknapp being questioned over his strikers, pompey remain rock solid overall, and have been further strengthened with his wheeler-dealer approach to the transfer market. this is evident in the typically astute free signing of sylvain distin, who will help an already tight defence marshalled by david james, and sol campbell. sulley muntari looks a decent purchase, and should provide competition in midfield to gary o’neil, pedro mendes, and niko kranjcar. more should be expected from the latter this season, as he is yet to show his true game since arriving from hadjuk split in 2006.

pre-season form
portsmouth had a great pre-season, winning five out of five friendlies.  david james kept two clean and was named player of the tournament as portsmouth beat fulham and liverpool on their way to lifting the asia trophy in hong kong. defensively redknapp will be delighted as new signing distin has slotted in seamlessly alongside sol campbell. nugent and utaka showed glimpses of their quality and redknapp will be relatively pleased with his summer’s work.

derby have struggled somewhat in pre-season, being priced out of signing their top transfer targets and stumbling to defeats against mansfield and macclesfield which may have gone some way to denting the feeling of euphoria that swamped the club at wembley in may. davies is a shrewd man though and he will have his players well drilled for the top flight, although the squad lacks quality they will not be lacking in heart as they aim to survive their first season at this level since 2002.

form guide
derby county

may 28 v west bromwich albion (n) won 1-0 (play-off final)

may 15 v southampton (h) lost 3-2 (play-off 2nd leg)

may 12 v southampton (a) won 2-1 (play-off 1st leg)

may 6 v leeds united (h) won 2-0 (champ)

apr 29 v crystal palace (a) lost 2-0 (champ)

portsmouth

may 13 arsenal (h) drew0-0 (prem)

may 5 everton (a) lost 3-0 (prem)

apr v liverpool (h) won 2-1 (prem)

apr 22 v aston villa (a) drew 0-0 (prem)

apr 14 v newcastle united (h) won 2-1 (prem)

team news
derby: star man giles barnes, reportedly a transfer target for west ham and spurs will miss out with a foot injury. central defenders claude davis (hamstring) and michael johnson (leg) are also missing ensuring a debut for new signing andy todd. ex pompey defender andy griffin may debut at full-back. manager billy davies will serve a one match touchline ban.

portsmouth: long serving defenders dejan stefanovic (thigh) and linvoy primus (knee) will miss out with will allow sylvain distin and herman hreidarsson to make there debuts in the pompey backline. fellow new boys david nugent, john utaka and sulley muntari will hope to start.

last starting line ups
derby: bywater, mears, leacock, moore, mceveley, fagan (edworthy 83), oakley, seth johnson (jones 87), pearson, howard, peschisolido (barnes 58).

portsmouth: james, johnson, primus, pamarot, traore, o’neil (mvuemba 76), davis (pedro mendes 64), hughes, kranjcar, kanu, mwaruwari (lualua 46).

possible starting line-ups
derby: bywater; mears, todd, moore, mceveley; teale, oakley, jones, pearson; howard, earnshaw.

portsmouth: james; lauren, campbell, distin, hreidarsson; o’neil, mendes, muntari, krankjcar; benjani, nugent.

players to watch
derby county:– steve howard - a physical presence upfront, howard will hope to be a good foil for new signing rob earnshaw. howard finally gets his chance in the top division having spent a career in the lower reaches of english football with hartlepool, northampton and luton. will unsettle campbell and distin with his aerial threat and work rate.

portsmouth:– david nugent - the former preston front man finally joined portsmouth this summer for £6m after a meteoric rise from the bottom tier to an england cap in march against andorra. nugent has much to prove at this level, but will hope to hit the ground running in the top flight by scoring against his former mentor at deepdale, billy davies.

prediction
derby county 1–1 portsmouth
both clubs last clashed during the 2002-03 season, and portsmouth came out on top on each occasion, winning 6-2 at fratton park, and 2-1 at pride park.  pompey only won three times on their travels last season, and derby in contrast only lost four times at home. judging by last seasons form, pompey can not be trusted away from home, and as they drew seven times away, this seems the likely outcome on the opening day.

steven gore