Swansea v Aston Villa - Match Preview
Swansea City return to the Liberty Stadium this weekend, where they entertain bottom of the table Aston Villa.
Villa enter this weekend’s game on the back of five successive defeats in the Premier League and sit rock bottom in the Premier League table. It has been a season to forget for the Villains who currently only have 16 points, which is the 3rd worst points tally in the Premier League era and are 9 points from safety. In the summer Aston Villa spent £54 million on new players coming into the club. None of those players have managed to make an impact this season, this also resulted in Villa sacking Tim Sherwood in October. Former Lyon boss Remi Garde took on the tough task of steering Villa to safety. Garde’s reign got off to a decent start with a 0-0 draw with title challenging Manchester City. Since then Garde has only seen his side collect 2 wins from 19 games in charge and he currently has a win percentage of 11%. Villa have only managed 10 league goals away from home this season and overall have only scored 19 in the league.
Swansea City go into this game looking nervously over their shoulders but a win against Villa should all but guarantee their Premier League survival for a 6th consecutive season. Swansea come into the game on the back of a 3-2 defeat against Bournemouth and will be looking to get back to winning ways. Swansea should have head coach Francesco Guidolin back in the dugout this weekend after being absent from the last two fixtures due to a chest infection. A win for Swansea could see them rise above 15th placed Crystal Palace, and could see them move 11 points above the relegation zone.
The last time these two teams met each other in the Premier League it ended 1-2 to Swansea City. Villa took the lead on the day with a goal from Jordan Ayew, brother of Andre. Gylfi Sigurdsson equalised, while Andre Ayew grabbed a late winner. Swansea will be without match winner Andre Ayew this weekend as he recovers from an ankle problem, so all signs point towards Modou Barrow to carry on from where he left off last week against Bournemouth, grabbing his first goal for Swansea and becoming the first footballer from Gambia to score in the Premier League.
Kick Off: Saturday 19th March 5:30pm
Venue: Liberty Stadium
Last meeting: Aston Villa 1-2 Swansea City
Swansea’s leading scorer:
Gylfi Sigurdsson (9)
Aston Villa’s leading scorers:
Jordan Ayew/ Rudy Gestede (5)
Swansea City Team News
Key man Andre Ayew sat out last week’s defeat to Bournemouth and has been unable to recover from an ankle problem for this weekend’s game against Aston Villa. Flying winger Jefferson Montero should come back into the squad after recovering from an illness.
Aston Villa Team News
Villa welcome back holding midfielder Carlos Sanchez to the squad after the Colombian recovered from a hamstring injury. Meanwhile the Swansea game comes too soon for Jack Grealish, Libor Kozak and Adama Traore. Jordan Amavi remains a long-term injury absentee.
Swansea City Players to Watch
Modou Barrow- Gambian winger Barrow made good on his first-team opportunity last week against Bournemouth with a well taken goal and a neat assist for Gylfi Sigurdsson. Barrow uses his immense pace to great effect and coming up against a leaky Villa defence, the Gambian will definitely fancy his chances of adding his name to the scoresheet this weekend.
Gylfi Sigurdsson- Swansea’s top goal scorer Sigurdsson added another goal to his name last weekend against Bournemouth. Now with 9 goals this season, Sigurdsson will be hoping to get into double figures in the league this weekend against an Aston Villa side with the worst away record in the league this season.
Aston Villa Players to Watch
Jordan Ayew- Younger brother of Swansea’s Andre, Jordan Ayew took a bit of time to adjust to the Premier League unlike his brother. Under Tim Sherwood, Ayew would play more on the left than his preferred central role. Remi Garde soon took over Villa and immediately played Ayew centrally where he uses his blistering pace to beat defenders. Sometimes Ayew will drift to the left so he can cut in on his strong right foot where he is more than capable of shooting at goal from distance as demonstrated against Newcastle United earlier on this season.
Idrissa Gueye- A Tim Sherwood signing in the summer, Gueye has been Villa’s most consistent player this season and has a great engine. Swansea as you’d expect would have more of the possession on Saturday and where most players would tire pressing the other team continuously, Gueye will keep going and battling for most of the game. He is a tireless midfielder who also likes to have one or two attempts from long distance. Gueye’s main strength is protecting his defence and once he breaks the play up will set Villa away quickly for the counter attack.
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