The Match
Swansea return to the Liberty looking to build on positive showings at both Goodison and the Emirates. While we didn't get anything out of the Everton game the overall performance level was excellent, and to follow that up with a point against an Arsenal side who've spent a large portion of the season at the summit of the Premier League really is very encouraging indeed. Monk will have been addressing the lapses in concentration which saw us concede four goals in around six minutes versus Everton and Arsenal, and if we can cut them out we should surely have too much for a Norwich team who've been dreadful on their travels this season.
Norwich, as mentioned, have been awful away from home this season (eight points from fifteen games), but in fits and starts they do seem to spring the odd positive result. Last weekend they triumphed over fellow relegation battlers Sunderland, and given their last four league games are Chelsea, Man City, Arsenal & Liverpool games like this weekend's will definitely be viewed as ones which can be targeted for points ahead of their excruciating run-in. That being said, the last time they even got a point away from home was against Crystal Palace on New Year's Day, so despite their win over Poyet's Black Cats a week ago the Canaries are unlikely to be too confident as they head to South Wales for a fixture they have traditionally done quite well in.
Prior Form (Most recent at top)
| Premier League | Arsenal | 2-2 | Swansea |
| Premier League | Everton | 3-2 | Swansea |
| Premier League | Swansea | 1-2 | West Brom |
| Premier League | Swansea | 1-1 | Crystal Palace |
| Europa League | Napoli | 3-1 | Swansea |
| Premier League | Norwich | 2-0 | Sunderland |
| Premier League | Southampton | 4-2 | Norwich |
| Premier League | Norwich | 1-1 | Stoke |
| Premier League | Aston Villa | 4-1 | Norwich |
| Premier League | Norwich | 1-0 | Tottenham |
Team News
Provided by resident fitness guru @BenDinnery - make sure to follow him on Twitter for the latest injury news and views
A massive game for Swansea this weekend as they entertain fourteenth placed Norwich City at The Liberty Stadium. Garry Monk will take confidence from the midweek draw with Arsenal and should retain the same squad which performed so admirably in the capital. Pablo Hernandez and Nathan Dyer will be pushing for starts after they were introduced from the bench on Tuesday while Michu and Jonjo Shelvey are still working their way to full fitness following a recent return from injury. Kyle Bartley (hamstring) the only definite absentee.
No fresh injury concerns for Norwich City as manager Chris Hughton considers his selection options ahead of the trip to South Wales. On-loan Newcastle winger Jonas Gutierrez has trained well following a calf problem while defender Michael Turner (hamstring) is back in contention after almost three months out. Alex Tettey and Robert Snodgrass have suffered minor injuries recently while Joseph Yobo and Martin Olsson are managing ongoing issues, however all four will feature. Ricky van Wolfswinkel’s place is under threat from top-scorer Gary Hooper after an injury hampered season with Johan Elmander expected to lead the line following his impressive display in the victory over Sunderland.
No fresh injury concerns for Norwich City as manager Chris Hughton considers his selection options ahead of the trip to South Wales. On-loan Newcastle winger Jonas Gutierrez has trained well following a calf problem while defender Michael Turner (hamstring) is back in contention after almost three months out. Alex Tettey and Robert Snodgrass have suffered minor injuries recently while Joseph Yobo and Martin Olsson are managing ongoing issues, however all four will feature. Ricky van Wolfswinkel’s place is under threat from top-scorer Gary Hooper after an injury hampered season with Johan Elmander expected to lead the line following his impressive display in the victory over Sunderland.
Completely guessed lineups
Statistics & Trivia
- Swansea forward Michu has scored three goals in three games against Norwich City.
- There have been 22 goals scored in just five Barclays Premier League meetings between Norwich and Swansea.
- Swansea have scored more goals at home than any side outside the current top five (26).
- That is, however, counteracted by us conceding 23 goals at home - more than everyone else bar Fulham (31) & Cardiff (29).
- Robert Snodgrass scored in both Premier League games for Norwich against Swansea last season and also assisted two goals for the Canaries.
- Snodgrass has scored in his last two Premier League appearances and has netted four in his last seven for the club in the competition.
- In 2014 Wilfried Bony has 10 goals in 16 appearances for Swansea.
- Norwich have won three and lost none (D2) of the five Premier League meetings with Swansea, despite trailing in three of those games.
- Swansea have won just four of their last 20 Premier League home games (W4 D7 L9).
- Norwich have won none of their last seven Premier League away games, losing the last five in a row (W0 D2 L5).
- Swansea's top scorer is Wilfried Bony with 11 Premier League goals, eight of which came at the Liberty Stadium. Their next highest contributor is eight from own goals netted by their opponents.
Straight from the horse's mouth
Garry Monk acknowledges there's lots of pressure on his side, but feels it's something his team can deal with:
"It was a confidence boost [the Arsenal game] for the players against one of the top sides. Going forward, those are the sort of performances we need to produce. We need to use it as momentum going into this game against Norwich.
"It is a totally different game, a totally different side that we are playing. We are at home, and we just want to get our home form back to what it has been. We want to put a performance in after the West Brom game. We feel that we owe the crowd a little bit of a performance.
"The pressure is on us to try and get safe as soon as possible and get the points on the board as soon as possible, but that's the same for Norwich and a number of teams. This is the business end of the season when everything really gets decided.
"You have to deal with pressure. Some players thrive on it, others you have to protect a little but more. It will be a tough game on Saturday. They (Norwich) are a side where I think their league position belies how good they are. I have watched a number of their games, and they have got some very good players."
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11661/9235381?
Chris Hughton is expecting the Swans to revert to type for this weekend's matchup:
"They played very well [against Arsenal], but it's very difficult because you can't be as expansive as you'd like to be because you're up against a Champions League team. We would expect them to pay a bit differently, a bit more expansively, as they normally do at home.
"They have goals in the team, especially in Wilfried Bony, who's scoring a lot of goals for them so we're expecting a very tough game."
Analysis
Traditionally, this game brings goals. As the stats show, there've been twenty-two goals scored in just five games between these clubs in the Premier League and I don't expect this one to be any different.
It's very hard to predict how the Swans will line up given our formation against Arsenal, and now we've got a fully fit squad, but I do see Monk reverting back to a more traditional Swansea system for this one. Who is in that Swansea midfield is another question though.
Whoever is selected, they'll likely be up against Jonny Howson (who probably doesn't like Swansea after Ferrie Bodde broke his leg) and Alex Tettey - who scored an absolute wonderstrike against Sunderland last weekend. Surely lightning can't strike twice, but he's a tidy player who needs to be watched.
Swansea have shown over the last few months that when they're on top of their game they are still capable of ripping teams apart. Early on against WBA we were excellent, and the same went for the Palace game. Surely we're due a brilliant performance that lasts for the entirety of the match, as opposed to two-thirds or ninety-five percent of it. Individual errors and lapses in concentration have cost us recently, and we need to cut that out as Norwich will very much be up for this one.
I do think that with Wilfried Bony finding form again we're going to have too much for Chris Hughton's men. Bassong is a good defender, but Wilf is an absolute monster whose star is starting to shine a little brighter as his goal tally grows ever bigger. He's scored in his last two games, has ten in sixteen appearances since the New Year and when he's on song he's simply too hot for anyone to handle. He's brushed off tougher defenders than Sebastien Bassong this season, so I doubt he's too worried about the defence he's going to be up against - and rightly so. If he plays his game, and the rest of the team click, we'll see goals in this one.
Now that I've gone on about goals it's almost certain to end 0-0, but I do have a good feeling. All the talk coming from the Swans camp is of a togetherness, and a renewed zip and vigour on the training field. On the pitch too we haven't been playing like a side parked towards the wrong end of the league - even if we have dropped off in the second half on a couple of occasions of late.
For me it's quite simple. Play like we did against Everton and Arsenal without the sloppy five minutes and we win this one. The level of performance is there, the quality is there, it's just about turning it on for the entirety of the match and cutting out individual errors. With this match representing a great opportunity to put some distance between ourselves and the (current) more likely candidates for the three relegation spots, it's important we all get behind the team and roar them home to victory. Much has been made of our away support of late and it's time we ramp it up at home to match that. Get behind the boys, sing your heart out and hopefully we'll be celebrating a crucial three points come five pm.