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The terrific performance of Quincy Owusu-Abeyie, when he came off the bench at half time in the cup win over Sheffield Utd, may well have earned him a place in the starting line-up against Portsmouth tomorrow.
"You have a very good chance of seeing Quincy over the weekend," says Arsene Wenger, "especially with the number of strikers we have out." That number includes Bergkamp and Reyes, both suspended. Robin van Persie is not banned by the FA having served his one-match suspension in the cup tie, but may well be banished by Wenger as punishment. It remains to be seen whether Henry starts or not, Wenger says he has a chance, but given the importance of having him available for Wednesday's Champs League game, his achilles may well be given another rest.
Ashley Cole has a hamstring problem so Clichy will probably start at left back, and Cygan has a groin strain which will probably see Toure return to central defence alongside Senderos. Edu, Hoyte, Campbell, Pires, and of course Gilberto are all injured. But doubts over the fitness of Freddie Ljungberg and Patrick Vieira have been dispelled.
Pompey are yet to beat us in the Premiership, and it's been 50 years since they beat us at Highbury. They've lost their last 3 games, and in fact 7 of the last 9.
Scottish international defender Richard Hughes will be missing with a hamstring pull suffered against Man Utd. Another defender, Gary Silk, has returned from a loan spell at Wycombe. Strikers Pericard and Todorov, and defender Hayden Foxe, are all out with long-term injuries. But Aliou Cisse and Patrick Berger are likely to return.
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