The Match
Crystal Palace find themselves heading into the game looking to replicate the kind of form which saw them topple Sunderland 3-1 a few weeks ago. Their solitary win so far this season, they'll be hoping they can turn a corner and spring a result against a team their manager is a big fan of - going on record as having modelled his new take on the game on the Swans. Whether he'll be able to inspire his charges to victory remains to be seen, but any time we now take on a Holloway team I get a distinct "master against apprentice" vibe. Feelings like that seldom last forever, however, and he'll be keen to get one over on us after only picking up points in one game out of four in the league so far.
Swansea come into the game off the back of arguably their biggest win of all time. A complete dismantling of 10-man Valencia will go a long way to restoring confidence to a side who had a poor end to last season, and a difficult start to this one. Normally 3 games in 7 days would sap the energy reserves of any squad, but the adrenaline and feelgood factor surrounding the most recent win is likely to cover any shortfall in fitness, and when you couple that with the rousing second-half display against Liverpool there's reason indeed to be confident of a positive result.
Prior Form (Most recent at top)
Team News - Provided by Physioroom.com's Ben Dinnery
Ian Holloway has struggled all season with injuries, his side currently sit top-of-the-pile with no-less than nine first team squad members occupying space in the clubs treatment room. However there is light at the end-of-the-tunnel as The Eagles can expect a number of returners over the next week or so. Summer signing Jerome Thomas has returned to training after a preseason ankle injury and could force his way into tomorrows’ plans, although a spot on the bench is more likely. Midfielder Jonathan Parr is also pushing for a return after completing 60 minutes for the Development squad midweek. Sundays’ game is likely to come a week too soon for Yannick Bolasie (hamstring) with a late decision to be made on defender Joel Ward (calf); however he is considered a major doubt.
Swansea travel to Crystal Palace on Sunday on the back of a European performance which some have heralded as the greatest in their history. Skipper Ashley Williams missed out midweek and is considered a big doubt due to the ankle injury picked up against Liverpool on Monday night, but Michael Laudrup will give the big defender every chance to prove himself with a late fitness test tomorrow. Once again the Swans will be without full-back Neil Taylor who is edging closer to a return while this weekend will come too early for Spanish playmaker Pablo Hernandez who is currently side-lined with a hamstring problem. Leon Britton was suspended for the trip to Valencia, will return.
Swansea travel to Crystal Palace on Sunday on the back of a European performance which some have heralded as the greatest in their history. Skipper Ashley Williams missed out midweek and is considered a big doubt due to the ankle injury picked up against Liverpool on Monday night, but Michael Laudrup will give the big defender every chance to prove himself with a late fitness test tomorrow. Once again the Swans will be without full-back Neil Taylor who is edging closer to a return while this weekend will come too early for Spanish playmaker Pablo Hernandez who is currently side-lined with a hamstring problem. Leon Britton was suspended for the trip to Valencia, will return.
Completely guessed lineups
Statistics & Trivia
- Palace haven't scored in their last four outings against the Swans, losing the last three.
- Swansea have leaked four goals before half-time this season - the same as Villa and currently the most in the league.
- Palace have created four chances from counter-attacks so far this season, also the most in the league.
- They have, however, only delivered four accurate crosses - the least in the league.
- Last year Swansea won only one of six games against newly promoted sides (W1 D4 L1).
- The last 41 Palace games in the Premier League have featured 22 penalties (14 for 8 against), while last season there were 19 in their 46 Championship games.
- The Swans haven't been awarded a penalty in the league since the 2011/12 season.
- The last time Palace and the Swans were in the same league (2010/11) the Swans won both fixtures 3-0.
- Palace have only scored 13 in their last 16 games, and have failed to register nine times in the same period.
- They have only lost 2 of their last 26 home games, however.
- Swansea have, so far, the best passing accuracy in the PL, completing 87.1% of their passes.
Straight from the horse's mouth
Swansea winger Wayne Routledge is looking forward to facing the team with whom he started his career:
"It is going to be special for me, knowing I get the chance to play somewhere where it all began for me. Hopefully I can be involved and we can get a good result, but for me to go back is a big occasion for me personally.
"It's just worked out that it's the first time I actually get to go and play there since I left. It's just the way my career path has gone and how they have done, now it's just so happened it's finally lined up so I can get to go back for the first time.
"Probably only the kit man still there from my days, but the owners have done a great job and Ian Holloway is a good manager so hopefully they can do well over the season and hopefully stay in the Premier League for a few more years.
"Palace taught me everything and I owe them more or less everything and I don't know where I would have been without them."http://www.teamtalk.com/swansea-city/8933094/Routledge-relishing-Palace-return?
Palace manager Ian Holloway was typically rambunctious when asked for his opinion on the upcoming match:
"I am glad we have a couple more days than Swansea to prepare, we have some fantastic options in the squad. They were playing on Thursday, not thinking about us, whereas we were thinking about them, and we have to make sure we take advantage of that.
"Swansea are an excellent side. Having watched them during my time commentating you can see how well they pass, attack and move the ball. They will have a lot of possession, they will look to play it around and I am looking forward to dealing with that challenge. I cannot wait for Sunday to go up against it."
"I'll be looking at sitting in, counter-attacking and trying to hurt teams. There won't be too many better than us at parking the bus across the goal, but I have also got to get those counter attacking instincts back. We're showing signs of growing, getting better and improving and putting all of the elements together."http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/8933411/?
Analysis
This game has the potential to be an absolute rip-roarer. With Holloway's open affection for the way the Swans play you can be sure that any game between the two sides is liable to be an open affair, but his comments about sitting deep seem to indicate that he may try a slightly more reserved approach.
In the past, his Blackpool team showed all the pluck and verve which you'd associate with a fine footballing team, but they were completely useless at the back and the lack of defensive solidity cost them dear. This time around, he's clearly looking to play a more structured game and it's possible we'll find it very difficult to break Palace down if they carry out his instructions to the letter.
The battle for midfield should be won, you'd expect, by Swansea's midfielders but it's important they remain patient, as Palace have a lot of pace they can utilise when breaking forward. Angel Rangel in particular will have to guard against Dwight Gayle getting in behind him, while despite years of derision from Arsenal fans Marouane Chamakh has the ability to cause problems.
Laudrup is likely to restore a couple of players to the starting lineup after shuffling his pack for the Valencia game, and Ashley Williams faces a late fitness test on his ankle injury, so we may see Jordi Amat keep his place, but even so I'm pretty confident heading into this one. I think while Holloway's attitude of keeping it tight and playing good football on the break is admirable, against a side like the Swans - especially fresh from a 3-0 win over Valencia - it's very dangerous. We knock the ball around for fun, and finding gaps is normally simply a case of biding your time until you drag someone out of position.
So, an efficient exciting performance and another three points? Sounds tidy. It'd also be our first set of back to back away wins since last November, too. Most welcome indeed.