Defoe making the most of his chance

Dimitar Berbatov, Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe, backed up by Darren Bent, was enough to put fear into the hearts of any defence.

Yet now, three of the four have gone and, on the surface, only one appears to have benefited from the dealings.

It is too early to make any final judgements but Berbatov has looked listless in his two outings for Manchester United and Keane is struggling to nail down a starting spot at Anfield — and neither has scored for their new clubs.

Tottenham banked £30.75million for Berbatov and just over £20m for Keane, but they sit bottom of the League and have looked toothless in attack this season.

The only man to have been energised by his transfer is Defoe, whose performances for Portsmouth have seen him regain his place in the England squad.

Defoe moved to Fratton Park for £9m because he could not command a regular first-team place.

But with just three senior strikers at his disposal, and only three goals from five Premier League matches, Juande Ramos may be regretting the decision to let Defoe go as the teams prepare to meet at Fratton Park on Sunday.

Defoe scored 64 goals in 167 appearances during his four years with Spurs, and he has already managed 13 in 19 matches for Portsmouth.

His Pompey and England team-mate Glen Johnson cannot believe that Spurs were willing to wave goodbye to the 25-year-old.

Former Chelsea and West Ham defender Johnson told Standard Sport: "If I were a manager, there is no way I would let Jermain go.

I bet their manager is kicking himself a bit now.

Having Jermain in the team gives you great confidence, because if you make chances he will put them away.

"He is one of the best at what he does in the Premier League. In some games, you won't see him, yet he will be on the scoresheet twice.

"You will always take that if you are a manager or his team-mates. His finishing and his goal record are phenomenal.

"Before we had Jermain, we were not scoring too many goals, but we were creating a lot of chances. If we create the same number of chances now, we will score more.

"Teams know that even if they keep him quiet for most of the game, but then give him one chance, he will probably take it. Jermain just being there keeps all defenders on their toes."

Defoe is in fine form, having scored five goals in six matches this term. Luckily for Spurs, his team are not.

Pompey lost 6-0 at Manchester City last weekend and were thrashed 4-0 at home by Chelsea in the Carling Cup in midweek, and they also have a lengthy injury list.

After winning 2-1 at Newcastle in Wednesday's Carling Cup tie to secure their first domestic win of the season, Spurs will now fancy their chances of breaking their Premier League duck on Sunday.

Spurs' £14m striker Roman Pavlyuchenko headed the first goal of his White Hart Lane career on Tyneside, and he is expected to retain his place.

Jamie O'Hara, who was also on target at St James' Park, believes Pavlyuchenko will soon find his best form for Ramos's team.

The England Under-21 midfielder said: "Roman has had a tough start, but he looks like a Premier League player, and he will score goals for us.

"It has taken him a couple of games to settle in, but once he gets to know the players, and we get to know where he wants the ball, he is going to be a really good link-up player. The goals will start to flow now."

After using Pavlyuchenko as a lone striker at Newcastle, Ramos must decide whether to restore Darren Bent to the starting line-up, or stick with Jermaine Jenas, Didier Zokora and O'Hara in central midfield.

Bent, along with summer signing David Bentley, was left on the bench on Wednesday, and Ramos may opt to leave both players out of the line-up once again at Fratton Park.

Croatian midfielder Luka Modric is also fit again and played the final 15 minutes in the Carling Cup, although it remains to be seen whether influential defender Ledley King can manage to play two games in the space of five days with his knee problems.