The Match
Swansea will come into this weekend's game full of confidence owing to an unexpected and impressive away win at Old Trafford last weekend. The victory put paid to lots of fans worries but it was the manner of the performance which will really have instilled confidence in the Swansea faithful. With, on paper, two winnable home games on the bounce the Swans will be keen to get another three points on the board, but they'll have to work hard to overcome a spirited Burnley side.
Burnley were welcomed to the Premier League with a bump by Chelsea. They did manage to open the scoring, but this only served to infuriate Chelsea who then set about playing some absolutely ridiculous football, and all of a sudden the home team found themselves 3-1 down. There's no shame in losing to Chelsea as they did, and much bigger teams will suffer the same fate this season. Sean Dyche will undoubtedly have his team focused on the task at hand, and if they play like they did in the opening exchanges against Chelsea they'll be capable of giving anyone in this division a game.
Prior Form (Most recent at top)
| Premier League | Man Utd | 1-2 | Swansea |
| Friendly | Swansea | 0-3 | Villarreal |
| Friendly | Reading | 1-3 | Swansea |
| Friendly | Bournemouth | 3-1 | Swansea |
| Friendly | Exeter City | 0-2 | Swansea |
| Premier League | Burnley | 1-3 | Chelsea |
| Friendly | Burnley | 2-2 | Celta Vigo |
| Friendly | Blackpool | 0-1 | Burnley |
| Friendly | Preston NE | 2-1 | Burnley |
| Friendly | Acc.Stanley | 0-1 | Burnley |
Completely guessed lineups
Key Players
A new feature in the preview this year, I'll be using statistical radars to show two of the key attacking threats on display
Wilfried Bony vs Danny Ings
Statistics & Trivia
- Swansea's Ashley Williams scored an own goal in the last meeting of these sides back in 2011.
- Only one of Gylfi Sigurdsson's eight Premier League goals for Swansea has come at home. Burnley
- Swansea are looking to win three Premier League games in a row for the first time since August 2012.
- The Swans have kept only one clean sheet in their last six Premier League home games.
- Burnley lost fewer away games (3) than any other team in the Championship last season
- In their previous Premier League campaign (2009-10), Burnley took only four points away from home (W1 D1 L17). Burnley's record of 13% of their points coming away from home in 2009-10 is the lowest proportion in a single Premier League season.
- Wilfried Bony has scored five goals in his last five Premier League appearances.
- Last year 52% of matches involving Burnley produced 2.5 goals. The Swans comparative figure was 53%.
Straight from the horse's mouth
Ki Sung-Yueng is looking to play his way to a new contract:
"I spoke to Garry at the start of the season. We had a chat about how he was going to manage the team. He said there was going to be better organisation and we would be working more as a team than last season. I think that showed against Manchester United. Everyone worked very hard for each other, and this is better for us."
"We have only played one game and there are 37 more to go. We need to forget the game at Old Trafford and start again. We also want to win our home games. If we win the next one perhaps things become more comfortable for us. There is always pressure, but I think we can handle it."
"It [Man Utd] was probably one of my best games in a Swansea shirt because I scored. I'd been waiting a year for that, a long time, and it was a great feeling. Every single game I want to prove myself in the team.I just want to focus on every single game.
"If I do well the contract will come. The only thing I need to do is just win the games and play every single game so that I can prove myself.
"It's not difficult here because I had a season here. I know the boys well, I know the staff and I know the way we play football. It's comfortable here for me."
http://www.southwales-eveningpost.co.uk/Ki-Sung-Yueng-Swansea-City-improving-Garry-Monk/story-22786527-detail/story.html?#LvAR5pYBGL2PD7Ly.99
Ashley Williams insists the squad were quick to move on from the win over United:
"The coaches and the experienced players will make sure that no-one gets above themselves. We all enjoyed the win at United, but we get back to work and focus on Burnley. If we don't win the next game, what we did at United means nothing.
"The two home games were the ones we have really focused on, but what happened at United just shows the confidence and belief we have now — to go and play like we did at Old Trafford and win.
"We didn't want to say it, but we had the belief before the game that we could do it, not because of anything to do with United, but because of what we've got in our dressing room.
"Now we refocus on a game which is arguably, for many reasons, going to be tougher than United."
http://www.southwales-eveningpost.co.uk/Swansea-City-s-Ashley-Williams-Burnley-Manchester/story-22765913-detail/story.html?#ixzz3B0AhfmBc
Analysis
Let's be honest, if we can win away at United we can beat anyone. That's the way I feel right now anyway. Last weekend's result allayed almost all of the worries I have about this season, and it was immediately evident that, in the 4-2-3-1 shape we're so used to in SA1, Monk's Swansea will be at the very least competitive. At best? We'll have to see where the season takes us.
For now though, we're up against Sean Dyche's super-competitive Burnley outfit. Last weekend they put out a side which cost less than £5million to assemble - even less than the team we put out against Man City when we first gained promotion to the Premiership. Impressive. Huw would be proud. Maybe even a bit jealous. Penny-pinching prowess put aside though, Burnley will be a very tough opponent come three o'clock on Saturday.
In Danny Ings up top they've got real pace to trouble our backline, so we'll have to guard against that, while their pressing game is something which we'll have to be wary of. Jonjo gifted possession to United a couple of times early on and we were lucky not to be punished. With Burnley undoubtedly desperate to get points on the board, and the Swans presenting what I'd imagine would be an easier target than Chelsea, they'll definitely be fired up so it's important to not give them any encouragement early on. We need to get into our rhythm and starve them of the ball lest we find ourselves on the back foot.
If we can do that we could be set up fairly well. Burnley will press us. We need to have confidence in our passing game and whether the undoubted storm, and look to make the ball do the work. If we can do this I'd be very confident of a Swansea win, and that's not a slight on Burnley - it's just after watching us dominate teams with this system if we can get back to that with improved players I wouldn't fancy many team's chances of getting the ball off us.
If we can impose ourselves and not allow Burnley to fluster us I'm confident of a Swans win. If Burnley force us into making mistakes and harry us in defence though, life could be very difficult. That being said, I'm going to predict a Swansea win as a team embarking on their fourth consecutive season in the Premiership should always be looking to beat a newly promoted team at home, regardless of who they are. Swansea 3 - 1 Burnley, with a brace for Bony and The Gylf getting another.
Six points out of six would be a nice start eh?