PORTSMOUTH V LIVERPOOL: STAT ATTACK

All the relevant stats, facts and figures ahead of Liverpool's Barclays Premier League trip to Portsmouth with official LFC statistician Ged Rea.

PORTSMOUTH v LIVERPOOL

Overall League Record: Liverpool 21 wins, Portsmouth 19 wins, 14 draws.

At Portsmouth: Liverpool 8 wins, Portsmouth 15 wins, 4 draws.

Liverpool failed to beat Portsmouth in the two league meetings last season.

Following a goalless draw at Anfield in December the Reds went down 2-1 at Fratton Park at the end of April. Emiliano Insua made his debut while Jerzy Dudek made his last appearance in a Reds shirt. Sami Hyypia, captaining the side in his 400th game, scored a consolation after Benjani and Niko Kranjcar had scored in the first half.

There have been four hat-tricks scored by Liverpool against Portsmouth in league games. The last was by Jack Balmer in 1946 in a 3-0 win at Anfield.

No Liverpool player has scored a hat-trick at Fratton Park.

The Reds heaviest defeat at Fratton Park came in September 1932 when they lost 6-2.

Liverpool's biggest victories came in 1951-52, 1952-53 and 2005-06 when they won 3-1.

The Reds 2-0 win in the 1987-88 season is the only time they've prevented Pompey from scoring at Fratton Park since 1928. This represents one clean sheet in the last 25 trips to the South Coast.

The Reds have failed to score in only one of their last 13 visits.

Peter Crouch missed a penalty against Portsmouth at Anfield two last seasons ago. He has scored in 25 games for Liverpool in which the Reds have won 24 and drawn one.

John Arne Riise scored his first league goal for the Reds on this day six years ago in a 3-1 Derby victory at Goodison.

Andriy Voronin has scored in three successive appearances for the Reds.

Alvaro Arbeloa is the only outfield player to play every minute of Liverpool's season so far.

A win today will give Liverpool 13 points and would be their best ever start to a Premier League season after five games.

If the Reds score it will be the first time since 2002 that they have scored in each of their opening five games.

They are the only top flight team this season not to concede a league goal from open play - the two goals scored against them have both come from penalties.

They have yet to concede a goal prior to the 62nd minute of a game this season.

Liverpool are already six points better off (ten points from four games) than at this stage last season.

They are the only Premier League team to score the first goal in every game they have played this season.

So far in this campaign they have scored 16 goals in six games in all competitions. Last season it took them 11 games to reach that figure.
Fratton Park has never witnessed a goalless draw between the sides.

David James has kept 143 clean sheets in the Premiership but none this season. 72 of those were kept during his time at Anfield.

He is the only goalkeeper still plying his trade in the Premier League who played in the inaugural season in 1992/93.

Should he play this will be his 137th consecutive Premiership appearance (with Portsmouth and his previous club Manchester City).

Kanu has scored 49 career league goals in this country for Arsenal, West Brom and Portsmouth.

Portsmouth last season recorded their highest league finish in 52 years when finishing 9th.

Only three visiting teams left Fratton Park with all three points last season-Bolton, Charlton and Chelsea.

Pompey have conceded eight goals from their opening five league games. Last season they held out until match six before letting in their first.

They are the only team to concede the first goal in every Premier League game they have played.

Should Liverpool win today it will be the first time since February 2005 that Portsmouth have lost three in a row in the league.

Their opening five games have seen them draw at Derby and at home to Manchester United before beating Bolton at Fratton Park. Since then defeats at Chelsea and Arsenal have followed.

Current League Positions:

Liverpool: Pld 4 W 3 D 1 L 0 Goals For 11 Against 2 Points 10. Position: 1st.

Portsmouth: Pld 5 W 1 D 2 L 2 Goals For 7 Against 8 Points 5. Position: 13th.

Current leading scorers: (League in brackets)

Liverpool: Torres 3 (3), Voronin 3 (2), Alonso 2 (2), Kuyt 2 (0), Babel 1 (1), Crouch 1 (0), Gerrard 1 (1), Hyypia 1 (0), Sissoko 1 (1), own goals 1 (1).

Portsmouth: Benjani 2 (2), Kanu 2 (2), Pamarot 2 (0), Utaka 2 (2), Taylor 1 (1), Nugent 1 (0).