The Match
Swansea will be raring to go after a two week break which must have seemed almost surreal to their players, given the exertions of the season thus far. With the run-in gathering pace, they'll be hoping a prolonged rest period will allow them to attack their remaining fixtures with gusto - starting with West Brom. With the Swansea squad slowly creeping back towards a clean bill of health, Garry Monk should have plenty of options and he'll undoubtedly be drilling home that three points is an absolute must this weekend - especially when you consider we travel to Everton & Arsenal directly after the matchup against the Baggies.
West Brom are currently experiencing something of an injury crisis which will have put some extra pressure on Pepe Mel, who's still looking for his first win in British football. Without a win in his first seven games in charge at the Hawthorns, his WBA side are without an away win in ten and impressive home draws against Chelsea & Liverpool will quickly be forgotten about if results don't improve quickly. It's also rumoured that a loss to Swansea could even see Mel removed from his post - hasty if true but given results and their league position you could see why the West Brom board would feel a change if necessary.
Prior Form (Most recent at top)
Team News
Provided by resident fitness guru @BenDinnery - make sure to follow him on Twitter for the latest injury news and views
For Swansea, Garry Monk will see Saturday as an ideal opportunity to secure three points against a struggling West Bromwich Albion side who have failed to win a single game since the turn of the year, and Swans supporters will be encouraged by the news that a number of key first team players are very close to a return. After what seems like an eternity Spanish starlet Michu has “responded well to pain-killing injections” and is on the brink of a return to first team action; promising reports from medical staff indicate he is expected to play some part after more than three months on the side-lines. More good news came in the form of Hernandez for whom it had been feared suffered another devastating muscle injury during the draw with Crystal Palace, however subsequent scan results revealed “nothing serious” and Pablo will be available to face the Baggies after a solid week of training. One player who is likely to miss out though is Jonjo Shelvey who is only expected to return to training today - the midfielder is battling an ongoing hamstring issue. Nathan Dyer (bruised foot) will face a late fitness test but the injury is only thought to be minor and the winger should be fine. Kyle Bartley (hamstring) is out along with Chico Flores (suspended).
West Brom hover uncomfortably above the relegation zone and Pepe Mel is under severe pressure to quickly turn things around, already in his short-tenure the coach has faced the dreaded ‘vote of confidence’ so the news that his side will be without a six first team players this weekend will hit hard. The home defeat to Manchester United included three enforced withdrawals all of whom have failed to recover in time for the trip to the Liberty. Full-back Steven Reid and midfielder Chris Brunt (both knee) were joined by Claudio Yacob (hamstring) with Diego Lugano and Billy Jones already confirmed absentees. Striker Nicholas Anelka is currently suspended following his “quenelle” gesture - leaving a depleted squad, lacking in confidence and bottom of the form table.
West Brom hover uncomfortably above the relegation zone and Pepe Mel is under severe pressure to quickly turn things around, already in his short-tenure the coach has faced the dreaded ‘vote of confidence’ so the news that his side will be without a six first team players this weekend will hit hard. The home defeat to Manchester United included three enforced withdrawals all of whom have failed to recover in time for the trip to the Liberty. Full-back Steven Reid and midfielder Chris Brunt (both knee) were joined by Claudio Yacob (hamstring) with Diego Lugano and Billy Jones already confirmed absentees. Striker Nicholas Anelka is currently suspended following his “quenelle” gesture - leaving a depleted squad, lacking in confidence and bottom of the form table.
Completely guessed lineups
Statistics & Trivia
- Swansea City have won just four of their last 19 Barclays Premier League home matches (W4 D7 L8).
- West Brom have won none of their last 10 Barclays Premier League away matches (W0 D4 L6).
- They have also failed to score after the seventy-fifth minute in their last ten away matches.
- Swansea have won four of the five Premier League meetings with West Brom (W4 L1).
- West Ham are the only away team to keep a clean sheet at Liberty Stadium in the Premier League this season.
- If the Premier League season had started on December 1, West Brom would be bottom of the table.
- The Baggies have not scored a first half goal in eight of their last nine league games. In the other match during this run they scored three first half goals but lost 4-3 to Aston Villa.
- New WBA signing Thievy Bifouma broke a PL record when he scored the fastest debut goal - notching just 36 seconds after coming on as a half-time substitute against Crystal Palace.
- Swansea have already benefited from seven own goals this season, more than any side did in 2012-13 (Man Utd had the most, with six).
- 11 of Victor Anichebe’s 20 Premier League goals have come as a substitute.
Straight from the horse's mouth
Garry Monk has described this as a "defining game":
"You get defining games throughout season and this is definitely one of them - everyone's fighting for different reasons throughout the league. We want the three points and so do West Brom.
"It's a good game, a big game, but we're in front of our home fans and it is important that we put on a performance to get the win."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26571088
Pepe Mel responded to questions about the Swansea game being make-or-break by saying he was in the dark as to whether he'd be in charge next week - were Albion to lose:
"“I don’t actually know. The only thing is winning against Swansea. Of course we must win.
“It is being said there are four important games but for me there is only one important game and that is to beat Swansea. My focus is on the players to improve them because this is the only way I can be sure I am going to be here for a long time.”
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/west-broms-pepe-mel-not-3239231#ixzz2vvmdgAoJ
Analysis
As Garry Monk has said, this is a defining game. Despite their poor form, I think WBA will be a much tougher opponent than most would currently give them credit for, and on the occasions I've seen them since Mel was appointed I've been impressed to the point where I've questioned just how their form is so poor. Given their injury problems though, it's hard to see them getting anything out of this one.
With Swansea like to be invigorated from two weeks off, it's difficult to see the Albion midfield being able to cope with our high-tempo passing game. Yussuf Mulumbu is a great player and James Morrison can turn it on when he wants to, but in their available squad I don't see a midfield option which could live with a Swansea midfield operating at 100%. Since Monk came in the intensity which we've played with has ramped up and up, and I think criticism of the second half against Palace was overly harsh - we'd had a mad run of games and some of the guys were clearly absolutely shattered.
I don't think that half of football is anywhere near representative of how we've played, or will play in future under Monk, and I'm fully expecting a repeat of the performances which have seen us outplay West Brom in the past. The only absentees for Swansea are likely to be Shelvey, Dyer & Chico (the latter through suspension), and given the replacements likely to come in I'm not concerned at all. I'd imagine Pablo will go wide with De Guzman behind Bony, with Jose & Leon in the centre and Amat at centre-back. The young Spanish defender has grown in stature throughout this season, and his inclusion doesn't cause me any concern whatsoever. That's him jinxed then.
West Brom do have quality in the squad. Berahino is arguably their stand-out performer this season (even if of late he's spent more time sending mysterious tweets), while Anichebe, Gera & Morrison will all have to be watched lest they prey on any half-chances presented, but I can't see them winning this one. It's a huge game for both teams, but with home advantage, a fresher squad and crucially, a bigger squad I can only see a Swansea win here - we could even see Michu returning from the bench, and that's an indicator of how many more options Monk has than his Spanish counterpart ahead of this one.
I'm dreaming of a repeat of previous performances against WBA, in particular the one last year, but it doesn't actually seem that fanciful a prophecy. Our passing game is back with a vengeance, and a depleted Albion side could well be passed off the park in another Swanea win which would go a long way in seeing them safe from relegation. If results go our way this weekend and we claim all three points, we could be seven points clear of Albion (who'd likely occupy the third relegation spot) and Cardiff (who've played a game more) on thirty-two points, while Fulham could even be eleven points behind us on twenty-one.
Given my maths earlier this week (link), that'd leave us only needing one more win to secure our Premier League status for another year. I am an optimist, aren't I?