Nathan Lewis takes his weekly look back at the last four fixtures against this weekend's opponents
This week’s #FlashbackFour contains four matches in the space of 366 days, with three matches in the Championship, and one in the FA Cup. Saturday’s match-up at the Liberty will be the first meeting between the Swans and the Foxes to take place in the Premiership, with Nigel Pearson’s side winning the Championship at a canter last season. They have made an impressive start to life in the top league, playing with confidence and abandon. Think of them as a more direct Swansea, if you will.
2nd January 2010 - FA Cup Third Round
Leicester 2-1 Swansea
Same teams, same place, same score. Swansea fans were left feeling a slight sense of déjà vu, after we lost in the same manner as our visit to the Walkers Stadium the previous August. A flu bug restricted the selection choices of Manager Paulo Sousa, with the likes of Albert Serran and Marcus Painter getting a chance to make an impact on the first team. The Swans did get off to a decent start, with David Cotterill scoring from 30 yards to give his side the lead after 10 minutes. For the most part, Swansea dominated the first 30 minutes, certainly looking the more likely to score.
A failure to put away chances however, allowed Andy King to score from the edge of the area, and the scores were level as half-time came. From then on, Leicester were undoubtedly the better side, and Swansea were unable to add to their first goal. It was a substitute that would provide the winning goal, as Danny N’Guessan – who had scored against the Swans on his competitive debut in August – headed in from close-range with just minutes left on the clock.
16th January 2010 - Championship
Swansea 1-0 Leicester
It had been 54 years since the Swans had beaten Leicester. But, two weeks after losing in the FA cup, Paulo Sousa’s Swans found a way past the Midlands side. Sousa was able to select a much stronger line-up this time, with Rangel, Britton and Nathan Dyer all featuring. It was Dyer that caused headache after headache for the Leicester defence, and his pace and sharpness provided a spark to the customary control that Swansea held over the game. Nath was the creator for the only goal of the game, sprinting to the byline before cutting the ball back for Pintado(!) to score his first goal in nine months. It’s scary, maybe a little worrying that Gorka Pintado started both of these games. Maybe that says something about our defensive mindset under Sousa…
23rd October 2010 - Championship
Swansea 2-0 Leicester
Paulo Sousa must have liked Leicester so much on our three visits in 2009/10, that he decided it would be a nice place to ply his managerial trade. This was a big match-up against a former boss, then right? Nope. After just three months, the Champions League winner was sacked, and replaced with Sven-Goran Eriksson. Unlucky Paulo.
So, back to the match. Marvin Emnes, what a man. Just four minutes into his Swans debut, having replaced Stephen Dobbie at half-time, Emnes outmuscled Curtis Davies and fired past the Leicester keeper to bring the Liberty Stadium to life. But he wasn’t finished there, sprinting right up to the last minute to square the ball for Scott Sinclair, who sealed the three points by poking the ball past the keeper. Welcome to Swansea, Marvin.
3rd January 2011 - Championship
Leicester 2-1 Swansea City
While we broke a 56-year winless streak against the Foxes, a loss in this match meant that our search for a win in Leicester now stretches back 64 years. The first-half contained plenty of action, with three goals from two sides both playing at a very high tempo. As seems to be a constant throughout Swans history, we conceded two goals from corners, meaning that the take-away from this game was not Scott Sinclair’s fantastic finish to a lovely passing move, but our inability to defend from corners.
The first came after six minutes, with Bruno Berner (who?) nodding past De Vries from close range. Leicester’s lead did not last very long though, with Sinclair curling a lovely finish into the net from 20 yards. The rest of the first-half was end-to-end, with the Foxes grabbing their winner through an almost exact replica of the first goal. The second half failed to live up to the high expectations set by the first, and the Swans only had one real chance to equalise, which Scott Sinclair fired wide. The wait for an away win against Leicester continues.
Games Played: 4
Wins: 2
Draws: 0
Losses: 2
Goals scored: 5
Goals Conceded: 4
It seems that clashes between the Swans and the Foxes have been tight affairs in recent years, often being decided by just one goal. How these Championship results affect the score on Sunday remains to be seen, but we are infinitely stronger as a team than we were three years ago, and I feel that we will just be too much for Nigel Pearson’s side on Saturday. But then, I’d have said that about Sunderland, Newcastle and Stoke… We’ll see!
My prediction: Swansea 2-1 Leicester
Thanks as usual to Nathan for his weekly #FlashbackFour. Do you agree with his prediction?