Southampton vs Portsmouth

Southampton against Portsmouth kicks off the FA Cup fourth round live on BBC at 12.30pm. Such is the animosity that has built up between the two clubs in the past few months, the Hampshire police have appealed to licensees in the St Mary's area to keep premises shut before and after the 12.30pm kick-off.The resignation of Harry Redknapp from Portsmouth earlier this season, and then the almost instant move to Southampton obviously did not go down well with the Pompey faithful. The recent bickering between the two chairmen has only added to the intensity of the occasion, although a truce has now been called. With all that has happened between the two clubs in recent weeks, an obvious market of interest is the bookings. In charge of this potentially explosive fixture is Steve Bennett, who in fact has officiated two other major matches in the past fortnight.The Kent official was the man in the middle for the Northwest derby at Anfield, as well as the Blackburn v Bolton game last Monday evening. Bennett showed a combined total of eleven yellow cards and one red card in those games. Previous to this though, Steve Bennett had been fairly lenient. The spreads firms are quoting 46-50 (yellow=10pts, red=25pts), which looks a little on the high side to be going in from the start. Despite the problems between the clubs, neither manager will want to see their players injured or collect suspensions with vital Premiership games to look forward to in the coming months.As for the result of the game, Southampton are the favourites to win at a best price 13/10. Based on how they played against Liverpool in their last home game, there is a temptation to side with the hosts. That said Portsmouth are highly unlikely to roll over as the Reds and will battle every inch of the way.Surprisingly for two local rivals, there hasn't been a draw between the Southcoast clubs since 1965. Expect that trend though to end on Saturday afternoon, and the two teams to be forced to reluctantly play a replay at Fratton Park in ten days time. Stan James go a best price 11/5 on the first FA Cup fourth round game finishing level. Get a free bet on this game worth fifty pounds with VCBet