Swans v Southampton Preview

Paul Clement will be ruing the fact that the Swans didn’t play at the weekend to try and maintain the positivity drawn from the win over Liverpool but plenty of rest will no doubt see his side in better shape than tonight’s opponents Southampton who have been in cup action throughout the last week.

Mixed fortunes for the visitors tonight; a nail biting two leg tie with Liverpool ending in victory and a place in the EFL Cup final and then total collapse as Arsenal romped to a 5-0 win over the Saints – Ouch!

Where does that leave us? Well, I’d say in pole position frankly. Our defensive frailties are still cause for concern but Clement has instilled a classic managerial belief into the team: if they score, we’ll just score more.

Great news as Fernando Llorente looks set to stay, at least until the summer, and Luciano Narsingh stands a good chance of making his debut – albeit from the bench most likely. Ki Sung-Yueng is back after a calf problem but both Leon Britton and the exciting Oli McBurnie both miss out.

Plenty of injury worries for Southampton but one key name is still absent for the Saints. Virgil Van Dijk, the highly rated and much talked about centre back, is set to miss out yet again with an ankle injury meaning Llorente might find a bit more space in the air than he might’ve been expecting.

Claude Puel clearly wasn’t interested in an FA Cup run this season as he made 10 changes to the side that beat Liverpool in the EFL Cup for the trip to the Emirates – does that mean he’s pushing for a decent finish in the league? Does that mean his side are good enough to beat us? Who knows!

Last time out, in the reverse fixture, Southampton won by a single goal that seems to be a regular occurrence between us and the Saints. The last three meetings at the Liberty have ended 1-0 to Southampton but tonight’s the night that changes surely?

My favourite fact for today? Paul Clement has already equalled Bradley’s tally of wins and it’s taken him just three games to do it – stick that in your pipe Bradders; we’ll never know quite why you were ever appointed!

I’m thinking 2-1 tonight. I can’t see us keeping a clean sheet because frankly Shane Long is a lethal forward on his day but I don’t believe Southampton are playing well enough to stop us scoring more than they manage – I’ve been wrong before but I’m feel good about this one.