Familiar face in the dugout

After the progression to the fifth round of the FA Cup at the weekend the Swans are back in league action this evening when they welcome Birmingham City to the Liberty looking to extend our unbeaten run in 2019 and get one over on former manager Garry Monk in the process.

It is Monk's first return to the Liberty as an opposing manager following his sacking from the club back in December 2015.

That bought to an end a 12 year association with the club during which he played in all four divisions for the Swans before taking over as manager when Michael Laudrup was sacked in 2014.

However it was a run of 1 win in 11 games in the league that cost Monk his job and since his departure he has had managerial spells at Leeds, Middlesborough and now Birmingham where he sees his side currently sit in 13th place, two spots and one point behind the Swans.

A win for either side tonight will see them advance up the table given this is, in effect, a game in hand due to that progression by the Swans in the FA Cup.

The Swans could welcome Tom Carroll back into the line up now he has recovered from injury although Wilfried Bony is set to miss out and it is now widely rumoured that he has played his last game for the club and will depart before the closure of the transfer window later this week.

The Swans are unbeaten in their last 11 matches they have played in January (winning 7, drawing 4) and if you fancy that to continue in some form tonight then they can be backed at 11/10 for the win and 23/10 for the draw with Birmingham being clear outsiders at 53/20.

On the goalscoring front, Oliver McBurnie is in top form at the moment and is 9/2 to open the scoring again which still seems generous given his 13 goal return so far this season.

Garry Monk's last match in charge at the Liberty saw his side (clearly us!) beaten 3-0 by Leicester and if you fancy him to leave again this evening on the wrong end of a 3-0 defeat then 17/1 will be your return.

Finally tonight we quite fancy the Swans to score in both halves of the game which at 49/20 will also add a nice return to what promises to be a cold evening (temperature wise anyway) at the Liberty.

The Planet Swans match preview is bought to you in conjunction with the Swans official sponsors BetUK - you can view their odds on this game and others at this link Here

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