Southampton v Swansea Competition- Sky Bet Championship Venue - St Mary’s Date - 18 October 2025 Kick off - 12:30pm Following their disappointing 1-3 home defeat against Leicester, next up for Alan Sheehan’s Swansea squad is a fixture against another of last season’s relegated PL teams, Southampton. Two weeks ago, Jordan James, Abdul Fatawu and Jannik Vestergaard were all on target as Leicester ended their run of draws with an impressive 3-1 victory against the Swans. Leicester led early on thanks to James' thumping drive before Swansea hauled themselves back into the contest through Adam Idah's second-half penalty. Fatawu then restored the Foxes' advantage as he whipped the ball into the top corner from outside the area, before the winger went close to an extraordinary second goal when he hit the bar from almost 50 yards out. With the Swans’ resistance broken, Marti Cifuentes' team wrapped up the points as Vestergaard headed home when Luke Thomas' free-kick was not properly cleared. After four successive draws, Leicester's first win since late August saw them climb to third in the Championship table whilst the Swans slipped to 11th having been beaten at home for only the second time since Alan Sheehan took charge in February. On the same day, Patrick Agyemang's first Derby County goal earned a point against improving Southampton but the Rams are still without a home win this season. The American headed in Andreas Weimann's delightful floated cross five minutes before the break to cancel out Adam Armstrong's fine early individual effort. An open and entertaining game full of chances, and excellent goalkeeping by Derby's Jacob Widell Zetterstrom and counterpart Alex McCarthy, saw the hosts respond impressively to the Armstrong opener, with the outstanding Carlton Morris and Weimann both going close. The Saints also created plenty of opportunities, most notably when Armstrong shot wide after the break. But neither team could find a winner, leaving Derby with just one league victory this season and Southampton with just two from their nine matches. The Swans have played the Saints on 76 previous occasions, winning 21, losing 39 and drawing 16. In the corresponding match 2 seasons ago, the Saints ran out easy 5-0 winners: Turning to tomorrow, Southampton boss Will Still has said that striker Ross Stewart will be "out for a substantial period" with a hamstring injury, possibly until the New Year. As for Alan Sheehan, he will be heading back to the club where he spent "half an hour" on the coaching staff and hoping that the Swans will put up a better fight than on the previous league visit to Southampton. For Sheehan, the fixture means a reunion with former employers: the Swans boss spent three months as Southampton's first-team coach under Nathan Jones during the 2022-23 Premier League season. The referee tomorrow is Josh Smith. The Peterborough-born official followed in the footsteps of his father when he picked up the whistle in 2006 to oversee a Peterborough and District Junior Alliance League game aged just 14. Nine years later he was added to the EFL Assistant Referee list and completed three years before choosing to specialise as a referee. He received successive promotions and quickly returned to the EFL on the referees list. Saturday will be the eighth Swans match Smith has officiated in his career. One of those matches was the historic 4-0 south Wales derby win at the Cardiff City Stadium in 2022. In the current campaign, he has overseen six matches, handing out 16 yellow cards and one red. Tomorrow, Smith will assisted by Alex James and Sam Lewis. Gavin Ward will be the fourth official. As for the outcome, I fear that Southampton have started to get their act together, plus the fact that we rarely do well after an International break, so I think that we will lose 3-1. Hope I’m wrong
Cheers Taff and well done Franco - he's had enough attempts! Now can I confirm kick off time? only joking I have a feeling Southampton will win as well. Not really sure where we are yet, in regards to playing style or tactics. Hopefully wrong and things will click. Who knows.
I know it’s down the road for me, but I’m avoiding this one. We don’t do well down St Mary’s so 2-0 Scum!!
Thanks Taff and well played GF As far as the score goes I can't predict.But,what I can predict is a Swans win. Safe trip to all that travel.
