Swansea vs West Ham: Premier League match preview
A look ahead to this weekend’s Europe chasing showdown
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Your support makes all the difference.The talks between Swansea and Manchester City for Wilfried Bony could be seen as a distraction, however with the striker off to the African Cup of Nations the Welsh side know this period will have to be undertaken without him whatever his future.
The top goalscorer in the Premier League for the calendar year of 2014 scored back in the reverse fixture in December, but an in-form Andy Carroll outperformed the Ivory Coast man and notched two in the 3-1 win at Upton Park.
West Ham United’s record at Swansea has been average, to say the least, since Swansea’s return to the top flight. Failing to score in their two visits to the Liberty Stadium is something Big Sam will hope to put right this weekend, especially with European ambitions still high for both sides.
Despite going four games without a win following Everton’s late equaliser in the FA Cup third round, further boosts for the Irons come in the form of Alex Song announcing his retirement from international football and Andy Carroll’s availability for Saturday with top scorer Diafra Sakho out with a back injury.
Swansea will hope star man Gylfi Sigurdsson will be able to fill the void of Bony in securing a victory that would see the Swans go level on points with the Irons.
The game will show who really has the prowess to potentially steal a European spot this season.
KICK-OFF: Saturday, 3pm
PAST THREE MEETINGS…
West Ham United 3 (Carroll 2, Sakho) Swansea City 1 (Bony), Premier League, December 2014
West Ham United 2 (Nolan 2) Swansea City 0, Premier League, February 2014
Swansea City 0 West Ham United 0, Premier League, October 2013
STATS…
Swansea have only won two of the last 15 meetings between the sides.
In the five Swansea/West Ham games since the turn of the century, the home side has won four of the five fixtures.
Gylfi Sigurdsson has the second highest number of assists (8) in the Premier League this season, only behind Cesc Fabregas.
Stewart Downing has the third highest average of key passes per game in the campaign (2.8), with Sigurdsson eighth in the list.
Following Lukaku’s 90th minute leveller on Tuesday night, West Ham have still not kept an away clean sheet in all competitions since a 2-0 win at Aston Villa back in February.
Swansea haven’t failed to score in a home game in all competitions since a 1-0 defeat against Southampton in September.
ODDS…
Swansea City to win: 2.3
West Ham United to win: 3.4
Draw: 3.5
TV: Highlights on BBC1 at 10.30pm
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