The Match
Swansea are safe! After finally securing back to back wins for the first time in a year and a couple of months, you'd hope the squad are a little calmer and more collected than they were a few weeks ago. Fingers crossed, the removal of relegation fears will act as a catalyst for the Swans this weekend, and that the team play with a freedom and pomp which had seemed to desert us earlier in the season. Southampton are no pushovers though, and despite not really having anything to play for to expect anything less than a full-blooded Saints' performance would be daft. We'll need to be at our best to get anything out of this one.
Southampton have impressed everyone this season, and few could have predicted the level of performance we've seen Pochettino eke from his charges. He's clearly got the team playing with massive amounts of belief, and despite the loss of Jay Rodriguez to injury they'll be confident of a result away at the Swans after not conceding in their last two matches - the latest of which was a 2-0 win over Roberto Martinez's Everton. It won't be lost on the Saints' boss that there are one or two similarities between Martinez's Everton and Monk's Swansea, and he'll be ramming home the point that if they can beat Everton, they should probably be beating Swansea.
Prior Form (Most recent at top)
| Premier League | Swansea | 4-1 | Aston Villa |
| Premier League | Newcastle Utd | 1-2 | Swansea |
| Premier League | Swansea | 0-1 | Chelsea |
| Premier League | Hull City | 1-0 | Swansea |
| Premier League | Swansea | 3-0 | Norwich |
| Premier League | Southampton | 2-0 | Everton |
| Premier League | Aston Villa | 0-0 | Southampton |
| Premier League | Southampton | 0-1 | Cardiff City |
| Premier League | Man City | 4-1 | Southampton |
| Premier League | Southampton | 4-0 | Newcastle Utd |
Team News
Provided by resident fitness guru @BenDinnery - make sure to follow him on Twitter for the latest injury news and views
Southampton make the trip to the Liberty this weekend & Swansea will be hoping to build upon their impressive victory over Aston Villa which arguably produced one of the goals of the season when Jonjo Shelvey expertly lobbed Brad Guzan from all of 45 yards midway through the first half. Missing from tomorrows line-up will be Spanish midfielder Michu for whom Gary Monk advised would miss the last two games, however he was quick to quash rumours of a serious ankle reoccurrence by announcing - "Michu is not far from fitness — if the next two games were crucial, he probably could have played with injections," Monk explained. But the only way he is going to get properly fit is through the rest and, given that we are safe, we have got the chance for him to start his rest and his treatment a little bit earlier.”
Another player set to miss the season run-in is full-back Angel Rangel after the defender picked up a groin strain last weekend & Monk has been working on a number of different scenarios to help identify a suitable replacement - "Neil Taylor is one option. It has been a frustrating year for him and I know what it's like to be in his situation, but he is a good professional who understands the situation." Dwight Tiendalli and Jazz Richards are also on standby for Swansea.
Southampton have been inconsistent of late but Mauricio Pochettino has had a number of injury problems to contend with including the loss of top scorer Jay Rodriguez (ACL) and defender Maya Yoshida (knee). Long-term absentee Kelvin Davis (back) remains on the sidelines while Gaston Ramirez (ankle) is unlikely to be fit, however Morgan Schneiderlin is expected to recover from a dead leg. Rickie Lambert will face a late test following a hamstring problem with his involvement likely to be restricted to a place on the bench.
Another player set to miss the season run-in is full-back Angel Rangel after the defender picked up a groin strain last weekend & Monk has been working on a number of different scenarios to help identify a suitable replacement - "Neil Taylor is one option. It has been a frustrating year for him and I know what it's like to be in his situation, but he is a good professional who understands the situation." Dwight Tiendalli and Jazz Richards are also on standby for Swansea.
Southampton have been inconsistent of late but Mauricio Pochettino has had a number of injury problems to contend with including the loss of top scorer Jay Rodriguez (ACL) and defender Maya Yoshida (knee). Long-term absentee Kelvin Davis (back) remains on the sidelines while Gaston Ramirez (ankle) is unlikely to be fit, however Morgan Schneiderlin is expected to recover from a dead leg. Rickie Lambert will face a late test following a hamstring problem with his involvement likely to be restricted to a place on the bench.
Completely guessed lineups
Statistics & Trivia
- Swansea have won 33% of their home matches - the same percentage Southampton have won away from home. Matched.
- Swansea's two most common scorelines at home this season have been 2-1 losses and 3-0 wins (both of which have occurred twice). Contrasting!
- Worryingly, Saints' most common away result is a 1-0 win, which they've claimed four times. What's more, their next most common away result is a 1-1 draw (3 occasions) while they've also won away 3-0 on two occasions. Impressive.
- 19 of Swansea's 33 home goals this season have come in the last half hour of matches (57.57%).
- Swansea have kept only three clean sheets in their last twenty-three Premier League matches. Ouch.
- No player has scored more goals in the Premier League in 2014 than Wilfried Bony, whose tally of eleven is equal to both of Liverpool's strikers Suarez & Sturridge.
- Accordingly, no player has scored more headed goals than Bony this season, who is tied with Benteke on five.
Straight from the horse's mouth
Garry Monk now has his sights on the "magic fourty point mark":
"We want to break the 40-point barrier and that is the drive for us now. With everything that has gone on this season, if we get past that total, no-one can ever question us.
"We've had tough times and we haven't performed as well in certain games, but ultimately we've done our job."
http://uk.soccerway.com/news/2014/May/01/premier-league-preview-swansea-city-v-southampton/?
Analysis
A difficult one this. I've been seriously, seriously impressed by Southampton this season and despite looking stymied by the absence of Jay Rodriguez, it says something about their level of performance that they're still looking like a complete, efficient footballing unit. That being said, they do miss the ex-Burnley man. On this weeks' The JackCast myself and host Matt Harrison both commented that we'd formerly had low opinions of the powerful striker, and while Matt is still begrudging in his acceptance of the rise of Rodriguez, I'm a fully converted disciple. I don't wish injuries on any man, but I am most definitely glad he's unavailable for this weekend's match.
Without Rodriguez, Southampton will probably look to young Sam Gallagher to lead the line, and while he's hardly been prolific this season he's shown enough for Swansea fans to be concerned. He works hard, and has been unlucky not to find the net on a number of occasions when I've seen him this season, so we'll have to be on guard lest he punish us - especially when you consider we've only kept three clean sheets in our last twenty-three league games.
It's hard to say how our midfield will line up, but you can bet your house on Wilf leading the line in front of it. Behind our ham-thighed striker,who will get the nod? With the Swans now safe, it's possible Monk will experiment, but I think the fact he's still essentially auditioning for the job full time will mean he puts out what he thinks is his first-choice starting eleven. Who is included remains to be seen.
Marvin Emnes is pushing for a start, though whether it's worth foregoing the penalty he currently seems guaranteed to win after arriving from the bench is another question. Personally I'd be going with a midfield trio of Leon, De Guzman and Jonjo, with Pablo reverting to right wing and Wayne on the left. I think De Guzman has been played out on the right specifically to provide aerial ammunition for Bony, but Pablo is a dab hand at the old crossing malarkey too and playing with the aforementioned central midfield trio, plus a natural winger out wide, gives us a lot more balance.
In defence for the Swans there are two pertinent questions; firstly who should replace Angel Rangel at right-back (after he pulled his groin late on against Villa) and secondly should Chico return to the team at the expense of Jordi Amat? As for the first I'd go with Neil Taylor, even though I'd be damn tempted to give Jazz a run out, while whoever was in charge of giving Dwight Tiendalli a three year contract must still be getting ribbed on a daily basis. He seems nowhere near the team, and based on this season's performances it's entirely justified.
As for centre-back, well... Chico has missed two games and we've won two games. I'm not saying there's a too direct link, but hey - we haven't conceded a penalty or had anyone sent off in two games either so i wouldn't upset the applecart too much. I do think Chico will return to the team, though Amat continuing - or even Bartley coming in for a rare start - are both plausible alternatives.
While I'm (as per usual) confident of a Swansea win at home, I am less confident than I have been ahead of most matches this season. Southampton are a very, very good side, and if we don't perform they'll have no qualms in showing us how to do it. We need to be at our very. very best to get anything here, but I'm confident that with the freedom Premier League safety affords we'll be able to do enough to sneak a win in a fast-paced, frenetic encounter.
Swansea to win in a feast of free-flowing football? You heard it here first.