Grant gets second chance to help Chelsea to title

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LONDON, Nov 27, 2009 (AFP) - Avram Grant gets a second chance to help deliver the Premier League trophy to Chelsea on Saturday when Manchester United visit Fratton Park for the Israeli's first match in charge of Portsmouth.

Twenty-four hours before Chelsea have the chance to seriously dent Arsenal's title hopes at the Emirates, Grant is perfectly placed to do his former club a huge favour by inspiring his new charges to take something from their meeting with the defending champions.

Grant, whose first and last matches as manager of Chelsea ended in defeat by United, was installed as Portsmouth's new manager on Thursday with a brief to guide a squad that has secured only seven points from 13 matches this season off the bottom of the table and out of the relegation zone.

It represents a tall order. But former Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric is among those who believe Grant can defy the odds by leading the club to safety.

"He is a very proud man, who has ability and experience," Mandaric said of the former Israel manager.

"Portsmouth have enough good players and with Avram organising them they have a very good chance of getting out of trouble."

Grant's last game in charge of Chelsea was the 2008 Champions League final in which John Terry's slip in the penalty shoot-out handed United the trophy, and effectively cost the manager his job.

His first ended in a 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford, a setback that Grant's Chelsea avenged with a 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge later in the season.

United visit the south coast looking to cut Chelsea's lead at the top back to two points ahead of Sunday's London derby, for which the leaders are hopeful of having Frank Lampard fit following the England midfielder's recovery from a torn thigh muscle.

Arsenal, in contrast, will be missing top goalscorer Robin van Persie and young left-back Kieran Gibbs, who suffered a fractured metatarsal in the Champions League win over Standard Liege in midweek, for a match they can ill afford to lose in the wake of last week's surprise loss at Sunderland.

Former Chelsea centreback William Gallas is however expected to be fit after suffering a blow to the head in the same match, which will allow Mikael Silvestre to step in to the gap at left-back, and Theo Walcott is in line for a start following two substitute appearances since his comeback from a knee injury.

After knocking nine goals past Wigan on Sunday, fourth-placed Tottenham travel to Aston Villa for a meeting with one of their rivals for a coveted Champions League place.

England winger Stewart Downing is hoping to finally make a start for his Villa debut following his recovery from a foot injury.

Wigan will seek to bounce back against former manager Steve Bruce's Sunderland.

Wigan chairman Dave Whelan this week injected an additional bit of spice into the fixture by blaming the thrashing at Spurs on "dodgy signings" made when Bruce was in charge.

Sunday's Merseyside derby takes place against a backdrop of discontent among supporters of both clubs.

Everton had plans to move to a new stadium blocked this week while Liverpool were eliminated from the Champions league and both clubs are struggling to stay in touch with the top four.

A 3-2 defeat at Hull on Wednesday left Everton 14th in the table while Liverpool have lost twice and drawn twice in their four league outings since beating Manchester United 2-0 on October 25.

"We know it is going to be very difficult on Sunday," said Liverpool's Argentinian midfielder, Javier Mascherano. "But this is a really important game for us and for our supporters and we have got to start winning in the league again by beating Everton."

Saturday

Aston Villa v Tottenham (1730 GMT), Blackburn v Stoke City, Fulham v Bolton, Manchester City v Hull, Portsmouth v Manchester Utd, West Ham v Burnley, Wigan v Sunderland

Sunday

Arsenal v Chelsea (1600 GMT), Everton v Liverpool (1330 GMT), Wolves v Birmingham (1200 GMT)