Arsenal v Portsmouth
It's been an almost flawless start to the campaign for Arsenal - and just the opposite for Pompey. The Gunners produced the performance of the opening weekend when they romped to a 6-1 victory over Everton at Goodison and then made light work of another testing trip by winning 2-0 at Parkhead on Tuesday in the first leg of their Champions League play-off with Celtic. Contrast that to a Portsmouth side which has been on the wrong end of two 1-0 scorelines in the Premier League, the latter an agonising, injury-time penalty defeat at Birmingham on Wednesday. There's little doubt therefore where the momentum lies and even in better times for Portsmouth they've always struggled against Arsenal - not once in 12 attempts have they managed to beat them in the Premier League since reaching the top flight in 2003. The problem is that all that is reflected in the odds, with the Gunners no bigger than 1/5 for the three points. However we like the look of the 9/1 about Thomas Vermaelen continuing his fine start to his Arsenal career by getting on the scoresheet. The Belgian has been outstanding in his two matches so far and there were real echoes of Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic in his headed goal at Goodison and against a shaky Pompey rearguard he should get a chance or two to add to his tally.
Verdict: Arsenal 4 Portsmouth 0 (JT)
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