New boys not whipping boys has been the message emanating from Premiership newcomers Ports-mouth in the opening weeks of the campaign.
Two wins and two draws from their first four games have left Harry Redknapp's team sitting pretty in third place in the league and confirmed their pre-season credentials as the most likely of the three promoted sides to stay up.
The season is still young but whether Portsmouth can realistically entertain aspirations beyond survival should be a little clearer by the time Arsenal have finished with them this afternoon.
Spending constraints prevented Arsene Wenger from making significant additions to his squad in the close season, his financial embarrassment made all the more painful by the freespending antics of their London neighbors Chelsea.
But Wenger's success in persuading his compatriots Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires to sign new contracts nevertheless made it a hugely significant summer for Arsenal and there has been an ominously determined edge to their performances since the start of the season.
Four straight wins speak for themselves and it would represent a major surprise if Portsmouth were to prevent them making it five at Highbury.
The visitors will however have the advantage of a relatively fresh squad following a week of international football during which the bulk of Arsenal's first team was scattered across the globe.
Wenger will definitely have to do without midfielder Gilberto, who was only due to return to London on Friday after playing for Brazil in midweek.
"Gilberto won't be available. Apart from that, everyone has returned in good shape," a relieved Wenger reported.
Portsmouth's Serbian defender Dejan Stevanovic acknowledges the south coast club, bankrolled by the millions of his compatriot Milan Mandric, still have some way to go before they can travel to places like Highbury expecting to pick up points.
But he is confident about their ability to consolidate their place in the top flight.
"I don't think we should simply talk about survival," he said. "We need to be looking at mid-table. The team is capable of that and if we pick up the points where we should we'll achieve that."
Manchester United will seek to get back to winning form at Charlton following the unexpected reverse at Southampton a fortnight ago which allowed Arsenal to pull clear at the top of the table.
After a turbulent week in which chief executive Peter Kenyon announced his shock departure for Chelsea and manager Alex Ferguson revealed he had been approached by the London club, United fans could do with the reassurance of a good performance on the field.
Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri's attempts to blend the ?100 million of talent acquired this summer into a championship winning force continues with the visit of Tottenham to Stamford Bridge.
Former England winger Steve McManaman is expected to make his Premiership debut for Manchester City in tomorrow's clash with Aston Villa.
Having been used in a variety of roles during his time at Real Madrid, McManaman says he is ready to slot into the City side wherever manager Kevin Keegan can find a place for him.
"You talk about Luis Figo being a great right winger but he is playing on the left at the moment," McMananam pointed out.
"You don't want to be labelled a utility man but I think good players can and will play anywhere," he said.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but