Saturday 3rd May 2014, KO: 15:00 Swansea: Team news: Rangel, ruled out for the rest of the season after picking up a groin injury late on in last Saturday's win over Aston Villa. Taylor may be given his chance to prove he paly on either flanks. Michu, is still very doubtful, due to persistent ankle trouble, and he is now suffering from ankle swelling that is requiring medical attention. Chico, set to return from suspension but may have some competition from Amat. Canas and Pozuelo, seem to have fallen off the face the earth? Possible team line up: Vorm Taylor, Amat, Williams, Davies Britton, Shelvey JDG Hernandez, Routledge Bony Subs: Tremmel, Dyer, Emnes, Vazquez, Jazz, Fulton, Bartley Swansea city last 5 results: W- Norwich 3-0 L- Hull 1-0 L- Chelsea 0-1 W- Newcastle 1-2 W- A Villa 4-1 Players in form: Bony, Routledge, Emnes and Shelvey Southampton: Team news: Rodriguez ruled out for six months and will miss the world cup. Yoshida ruled out, picked up a knee ligament injury. Possible lineup: Boruc Clyne, fonts, Loren, Shaw Cork, Wayama Davies, Lambert, Lallana Gallagher Subs ward-prowse, Guly, Chambers, Gazzaniga, Hooiveld, Targett, Reed Southampton last 5 results W- Everton D- A Villa L- Cardiff L- Man city W- Newcastle Stats from last meeting: Possession Swansea 58-42 Southampton Shots Swansea 17-12 Southampton On target Swansea 7-4 Southampton Southampton have not been at their best over the last month, with failing to make best of their possession and chances against struggling teams like Cardiff and Aston Villa. Against Everton, Southampton displayed a great overall performance but was flattered by two gifted OG's and have struggled to find the back the net recently, where no Southampton player has been able to scored a single since a loss to Man city Swansea on the other hand are starting to find a bit of form and able to a string back to back wins for first time since December 2012. And goals haven't really been a problem for Swansea when Bony is about. Independent match preview: When Southampton comfortably beat Swansea back in early October, Mauricio Pochettino’s side were riding high in a Champions League berth, while their South Wales opponents hovered above the relegation zone. The two clubs have gravitated towards each other since then, and are both now secure in the safety of mid-table. They may have nothing to play for apart from pride, but both teams come into this game on the back of an impressive win. Swansea took apart a hapless Aston Villa side with the help of Jonjo Shelvey’s world-class strike, while Southampton benefited from Everton twice pushing the self-destruct button to triumph in the early kick-off. Despite beating Everton in 12 years, the Saints have taken just one point from their last three away games. Swansea on the other hand have won back-to-back league matches for the first time in 16 months, allowing manager and former captain Garry Monk to put his shaky start behind him. His team have also scored far more than any other side in the bottom half, and boast a striker in a rich vein of form. Wilfried Bony has hit 24 goals in his debut season, including four strikes in his last two matches. In contrast, since losing top scorer Jay Rodriguez to a ruptured anterior cruciate knee ligament four games ago, Southampton have only hit the back of the net from a penalty and two own goals. STATS… Only West Ham have lost more points from a winning position than Southampton this season. In total, the Saints have given up 18 points after going ahead, following on from last year when they surrendered a season-high 28 points. Swansea haven’t beaten Southampton in their last four meetings, with the South Wales side’s last win - a 3-0 victory in the Championship - coming in 2008, when Southampton were relegated to League One. The teams have met 61 times. Southampton have won 28, Swansea 18 and there have been 15 draws. Swansea haven’t won three games in a row since March 2012, when they beat Wigan, Manchester City and Fulham. Swansea have kept eight clean sheets this season. Only three sides - Cardiff, West Brom and Fulham - have managed fewer. ODDS… Swansea to win: 2.37 Southampton to win: 2.9 Draw: 3.4 TV: Highlights on BBC1 at 10.20pm My prediction: Swansea 2-1 [video=youtube_share;1bxN1E9yNn8]http://youtu.be/1bxN1E9yNn8[/video]
3-1 to the Swans , more riding on this for us than them and hopefully this time we'll not only dominant but find the net .
Did you deliberately leave Chico out? Personally I'd pick; ------------------- Cornell/Zabret ----------------------- -------------- Amat ----------- Bartley ------------------ Chico ---------------------------------------------- Taylor ---------------- Shelvey -- Canas ---------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- Dyer ------------- Hernandez ------------- Routledge ------------------------ Bony ------------------------------ Bench: Vorm, B. Davies, Ash, Leon, De Guzman, Pozuelo, Emnes but think it will probably be; ------------------------ Vorm ------------------------- ---------------- Chico ------- Ash ------------------- Taylor ------------------------------------ B. Davies --------------------------- Leon ---------------------- ---------------- Shelvey ----------------------------- De Guzman ----- Hernandez -------- Routledge ------------------------- Bony ------------------------ Bench: Tremmel, Jazz, Bartley, Fulton, Dyer, Emnes and Vazquez. At Sunderland I'd play; -------------------- Cornell / Zabret ---------------------- ---------------- Amat -------- Bartley --------------------- Jazz ------------------------------------------------- Taylor ------------------Lucas -- Fulton -------------------------- --------------------- Pozuelo ------------------------------ Ngog ---------------------------------------------- Emnes --------------------- Vazquez ----------------------------- Bench: Cornell/Zabret, Tiendalli, Monk, Leon, De Guzman, Hernandez and Lamah.
Interesting but hopefully highly unlikely imo .no leader on the pitch and too many changes for a game I'd like us to win & Chico as right back ?
Your totally right of course regarding the lack of a leader on the pitch in my lineup....my theory is that, with the job done already, it would be worthwhile to experiment and look at a few players in a Prem game or 2....I think they will be more motivated for these games also....didn't pick a leader because the leaders always play (which means their understudies never get a look in) and winning or getting a point isn't essential. Chico played right-back for half a season in Spain and got good reviews there, just feel he's worth a look at there so we know all our options for an injury crisis in the future.
If Bartley os fit I'd like to see him get a run out at some point. Maybe a back four of Jazz, Bartley, Amat, Taylor at some point.
I hope we do not play Chico again this season, boys a liability! I'm going with a 2-1 win to Swansea and we need to be focused................
Not starting the game against Southampton. Just stating I'd like to see them 4 play together at some point, maybe the Sunderland game.
I've got a feeling most of our team are already on the beach - Southampton win I'm afraid. Although they haven't been great recently, we have been quite awful .. just less so than the utter crud that we've played (including Chelsea).
No I forgot, I'd probably swap Chico for Bartley. I don't think monk would change much because we can still drop close to the relegation zone and would want to finish as high up as possible. The only time I'd expect monk to experiment is if the last game of the season results won't affect our league standing.
Good points there , but if Ash is out who would you suggest wear the armband , it has to me be someone at the back who can have a greeter overview than a perhaps a striker although I would imagine Bony commands respect from the squad .Do we need to experiment now though unless Monk has been given the job a new manager will have his own ideas after researching the squad and winning the remaining games can have a positive financial and moral effect for everyone , as it's been pointed out on numerous occasions the poor results from the end of last season seemed to have followed us into this one . Chico as a right back could be interesting , he is reasonably quick , reads the game well and likes to run with the ball , not sure of his ability tracking back into position , he was exposed in the full back position when he fouled whats his face v Chelsea and got sent off .
A loss for me but I hope I'm wrong. Villa are absolute rubbish away from home and we made them look very good for periods of the game despite the flattering scoreline. We looked vulnerable at the back and a better team would have given us more of a game. Saints are that better team I think. The only saving grace could be the fact they've been a little out of form over the past few weeks so hope I'm wrong. Otherwise 1-3 Saints. Sorry. I said last week that if we win this one I may actually start believing Monk is the man for the job and I stand by that.
This will be a test for Monk to see if he can motivate the team, when there is less to play for and can he get a result against a good side!
