By Boris Mellor
December 28 2005

It will be a night for the hardy at Highbury this evening as the temperature will be several degrees below freezing. I don't know about the players but I shall certainly be wearing gloves, and finding those old Long John's.

The only major change in the squad from Boxing Day will be the inclusion of Dennis Bergkamp. Dennis was not injured on Sunday, but held back by Wenger so that he can freshen up the squad with some minor rotation. Robin van Persie and Quincy remain on the sick list, as does Cole and Clichy. Henry says he will play on in spite of Achilles Tendon problem that has been troubling him for the last two years.

I recently predicted that the days of Freddie and Robert starting the match together were probably a thing of the past. That proved correct at Charlton where Wenger played a four- three - three. It seems increasingly likely that Wenger will stick to that formation in the absence of a capable holding midfielder, and despite of press comments I feel that Hleb is doing a good job in the central area.

 Wenger says he expects Portsmouth to defend and look for the breakaway, he may be right, but they may try and up the pace for the first 15 minutes. There seems to be a consensus that we can be forced into conceding an early goal, there may be something in that, but it didn't work for Charlton.

Last year we won this fixture three nil at home but only managed to win one nil at Pompey. However that was only due to the fact that Sol Campbell decided to become striker for the day hitting a brilliant rocket shot past a bemused Portsmouth defence. The team certainly had plenty of chances at Charlton, many on target, but maybe because of nerves only one found the net. Portsmouth are desperate to pull themselves clear of the relegation zone so it might not be an easy match. However their away form is very poor, and our home form very good. The Gunners should be able to force the victory.