Liverpool vs Swansea City – Match Preview

Liverpool vs Swansea City - Match Preview

Liverpool vs Swansea City – Match Preview – The Premier League’s bottom side Swansea City are in desperate need of a late Christmas present via three unlikely points against Champions League-chasing Liverpool.

This fixture last season was the turning point for Swansea and Paul Clement, as he miraculously kept the South-Welsh side in the division after a galvanising 3-2 win at Anfield.

Swansea were rock-bottom at Christmas then, and that is the current situation again, however the reality seems to be even worse this time around. The club are manager-less – with club icon Leon Britton taking the reins temporarily – and have picked up just one win in their last 11 league games, losing nine.

Nothing but victory will do for Jurgen Klopp’s side with the race for the top four being increasingly tight. Just one point separates Liverpool in 4th and Arsenal in 6th after they played out an exhilarating 3-3 draw on Friday night – a match which stretched Liverpool’s unbeaten run to 10 matches.

Coutinho scored the opener against Arsenal on Friday night Photo Credit: skysports.com

The league is surely beyond reach for Liverpool so battling and earning a Champions League place – where Liverpool have drawn Porto in the last 16 – and becoming a regular in Europe’s top competition is paramount.

Swansea will be hoping to build on their 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace on Saturday and in their position every game seems like a must-win, but going to Anfield to reinvigorate a season is no mean feat – does lightning strike twice here?

Stats

Despite the defensive issues that are regularly discussed regarding Liverpool, only Burnley, Arsenal and Manchester United have kept more Premier League clean sheets than their eight so far this term.
The issue for Swansea hasn’t necessarily been at the back, it has been at the other end of the pitch – The Swans have scored a league-low, measly total of 11 goals this season. However, they have kept six clean sheets, just two less than their Boxing Day opponents.

Neither of the two sides have been particularly card-laden this year, with Liverpool and Swansea ranking in 15th and 16th respectively in our club card stats table for average cards per game – both have 1.3. The Swans have been given 24 yellow cards, one more than Liverpool but have not had a single player shown a red all year – The Reds have been given marching orders just the once too.

The corner stats are as expected, with Liverpool and Swansea ranking in positions more representative of the league table – Liverpool are 7th in our club corner stats table, being awarded 109 corners, to Swansea’s 16th place and 78 corner kicks.

 

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