Cup o' coffee and the Swans (Sunday Catch-up - 23rd August 2015)

It's Sunday, I've woken up later than planned. Let's get a quick catch-up out while my filter coffee is being prepared by Jeeves.


Sunderland 1 - 1 Swansea City

We're already three games in to this new season and Swansea are yet to lose, earning a fair point against Sunderland yesterday.

Although this was the first match in which we as fans could be forgiven for getting a little frustrated. Swansea, after all their domination in the opening quarter, lacked that cutting edge in front of goal and could well have taken the win, through the likes of Ayew or Sigurdsson in the second half.

But Bafetimbi Gomis's enjoyable opener on the cusp of half time was enough to secure a precious point. A more in-depth look at the game and some photos here (don't click if you hate the Daily Mail, because that's where you are being sent today!)

But it can only be a positive, drawing away from home to stay sixth in the league with 5 points. Onto United at the Liberty next Sunday!


Britton stays put...

As the transfer window slowly closes, the moment we dreaded all summer is no longer imminent - Leon Britton is staying with Swansea!

The 32-year-old stalwart had toyed with leaving the club over the last few months, looking to go somewhere that could offer him more regular football - MLS in particular. However, after a chat with his pal and manager, Britton has decided to stay with the hope of playing more often.

In his own words:

"I've always said the first place I want to play is here at Swansea. Maybe things will change a bit and I can be involved a bit more, which would be great."

Whether or not we will actually see him on the pitch this season is now the question. But with the quality and depth already in that area of the field, that's not the prime reason Swans fans are so keen to see him stay.

We don't want to lose such a longstanding player, who offers club pride in bucket loads and is a boost to spirits both on and off the field.


...so does Montero (but not Michu)

Thankfully we are all on the same page - me, you, Garry Monk and Huw Jenkins: none of the Swans stars are for sale.

This comes after speculation over the immediate future of Jefferson Montero, who has been linked with Bayern Munich and most recently Man United, after Reds fans - including Rio Ferdinand - voiced their want over social media.

But as Monk said:

"No-one is for sale, we’re looking forward to the season, the players are looking forward to going forward with Swansea and this is the squad I want."

Meanwhile Michu - who we sometimes forget is still on Swansea's books - is now very likely to head off, maybe to Celtic as latest reports suggest. Let's face it, unless he completely returned to the form he displayed in his first season with the club (which seems nearly impossible) he will never get back into the current squad.

Jack in Time: A packed and snowy Vetch in 1955 (with video)

Don't worry, I'm not ditching our regular Sunday morning catch-up articles, but while the Swans have the weekend off I thought I would do something a little different this morning.

I'm a big fan of Swansea nostalgia and - after writing Swansea City's Greatest Games - I find I know a lot more about the club's colourful history than I did before.

And I've decided to share a little of that history with you this week.

Today we're looking at an excellent video of Swansea Town vs Sunderland in the FA Cup fifth round at a very snowy Vetch field on 19 February 1955.

What's instantly eye-catching is the crowd - it looks insane! 28,487 people crammed themselves into the Vetch that day (this was before all the stands had been built... and well before health and safety regulations) to watch the Swansea Babes in action.

First Division high-flyers Sunderland took the lead after 24 minutes through Chisholm. However in the second half the Swans - then managed by the shrewd Billy McCandless - equalised through Mel Charles (although there are contradicting reports suggesting it was Len Allchurch who scored... I can't seem to see from this video, so it remains disputed!).

The home side then took the lead through the head of Terry Medwin, after an excellent cross from one of Swansea's greatest ever players, Ivor Allchurch. But Sunderland forced the replay later in the game with a goal from Charlie Fleming.

Unfortunately the replay four days later saw Sunderland win 1-0, knocking Swansea out of that season's FA Cup.

I'll try to do a few more of these entertaining trips through Swansea's history if everyone enjoys them. For now you can check out the best-selling Swansea City's Greatest Games for a good dose of nostalgia.

Audio Jacks podcast - Episode Three

It's another Monday and another Audio Jacks podcast!

In this short episode we discuss the Sunderland game, a controversial post on Planet Swans and we ask why the Liberty Stadium is so quiet these days.

You can stream it by clicking on the link below, or head to the SoundCloud website to download it.

All feedback is very welcome! Catch us on Twitter @ForzaSwansea and @LMScreamer.

Cup o' coffee and the Swans (Sunday Catch-up - 8th Feb 2015)

Whether you're hungover from the rugby or - more than likely if you're reading this - the FOOTBALL, wake-up and put the espresso machine on, it's time for our weekly catch-up.


Swansea City 1-1 Sunderland

A bit of a frustrating game, but one with plenty of positives.

Sunderland scored the first goal in the first-half, thanks to a solo effort from Jermain Defoe, who literally cut straight through Swansea's flustered defence and deservedly hammered the ball past Fabianski.

Gomis against Sunderland - he gave it a good go, but he's still not impressing.

But a wonderful diving header for the newly returned Ki Sung Yueng made it all square in the second half. Ki was a great presence on the pitch yesterday and deserved to be man of the match. However I was impressed with Kyle Naughton at times, while Jack Cork looked well at home in the centre of the pitch.

Federico Fernandez was pretty solid all game too. Nathan Dyer had spells where he looked like the Dyer of old, although he's just not as consistent as before. A mention must also go to Nelson Oliveira, who came on and looked very keen. I'd like to see him start against West Brom on Wednesday as Bafetimbi Gomis really isn't doing it for me.

But I can't be the only one to notice this? Yes he's committed his allegiance to Swansea (for now...) and he's certainly upped his work rate, but he never looks like he's going to score. He's no Bony (I'm done stating the obvious now).


We told you so!

A small news item about former Swansea City star Scott Sinclair, who said he would now 'think twice' about leaving regular football to sit on the bench for a bigger club.

I'm not sure why it's taken him that long to realise, but at least he does have some career awareness. He was a big talent for Swansea, but he's basically starting from scratch again... let's hope it works out for him at Villa (apart from his away days at the Liberty).


Boring old Swansea?

The transfer window closed on February 2nd, and - despite all the transfer rumors around - nothing really happened with Swansea on the final day. But then why would it? We had a busy enough month of ins and outs, so there was little need to panic buy in the final hours.

The biggest news for the Swans in the window was, of course, the departure of Wilfried Bony, who left for Manchester City for around £28million at the start of the month.

But the club used a little of that cash to bring in a few new faces, with the biggest signing probably being Jack Cork from Southampton for a rumoured £3million. The previous week Kyle Naughton arrived from Spurs for an eyebrow-raising £5million. He's perhaps less of a catch than Cork, but he will give Rangel some much-needed competition, as he showed yesterday.

The Swans also secured Nelson Oliveira on loan from Benfica earlier in the window, but he's not been able to make much of an impact during his limited time on the pitch. As I've already said, it would be nice to see him make a start or two.

And finally Exeter City midfielder Matt Grimes came to the club for £1.75million - the youngster is a decent prospect, but definitely one for the future.


One year on...

Last Wednesday, Garry Monk celebrated his one year anniversary as Swansea City manager. And he's done a great job. Of course he's made his fair share of mistakes, but he's also enjoyed his moments of genius and has pretty much led Swansea to Premier League safety with most of the season to go.

Doesn't it seem like yesterday that the club was wrapped up in rumours and controversy as Michael Laudrup was sacked? Hang on... that means that today - February 8th - is the one year anniversary of that glorious 3-0 win against Cardiff City!

Now, surely that's a good reason to crack open a few cans this Sunday morning!

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Read all about that epic Cardiff City match in Swansea City's Greatest Games - the city's best-selling sports book of 2014!

2013/14 - The final four predictions!

It's almost over - and not a moment too soon! With just four important games left to secure survival for a faltering Swansea City, our former Swan ALEC JOHNSON takes one last look at what we can expect, and shares his score predictions.

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By Alec Johnson

Before we look forward to the final four crucial matches, let's briefly take one last glance at last Sunday’s encounter - the 1-0 loss to Chelsea.

After starting so brightly and competing for possession, our tempo and movement gave us real hope of picking something up from the ‘bonus’ game that nobody expected anything from. We won every challenge for the first 15 minutes, except the two that Chico lost. How cheap they were and how expensive they could be.

The Terry and Jose anger tactics played the part necessary to see our pantomime villain sent off once again. What happened next was a mistake in my opinion - hauling off Pablo (who had started with real purpose) and leaving Dyer on (who had started poorly) was an own goal in itself. The logic I get - keep the pace and hard-working runner on - but I felt we needed the form player to sit in the middle and hurt when necessary. We lost, but not without heart and spirit.

So where does that leave us? A strange bag of results threw my ‘super six’ predictions off course and the blew the bottom wide open. We are now a game away from level points in the trap door.


Newcastle United (away) - Sat, 19 April

First up, a trip to Newcastle. St James Park isn’t what it used to be. The Geordies have turned on Pardew showing their lack of appreciation for the punchy cockney with a set of banners last weekend. Their form is poor having lost the last four, while their record of lowest goals scored and most conceded in the top half isn’t a proud medal to carry.

Therefore it’s all about the start. If we get at them early on and unsettle the crowd, breaking the confidence, we can get a grip and win by a couple as we did last season. I do feel that there will be a reaction and a fight, but I cannot see us getting beat, so I will throw in a nervy 1-1 draw. Probably something that both clubs would take before of the game.


Aston Villa (home) - Sat, 26 April

Next up is Villa at home. The away fixture over Christmas ranks as one of my most frustrating in recent years. We battered them for 80 minutes, keeping almost 99% of the ball and the Jack Army were awesome from start to finish. We deserved better, but took a point. This is payback and I believe we can boss this and hurt them at home, hopefully through our three winger approach, which is so effective at the Liberty. I will go for a 2-0 win, edging us towards safety on 37 points with two games to go.


Southampton (home) - Sat, 3 May

Are they on the beach yet? Some are already at the World Cup and going through the motions. On their day they can be devastating and I do feel that they will be up for it on their last away game of the season. Assuming we have collected the four points from the previous two fixtures, I can see us losing this one as they play with freedom and flair. So it’s a 2-1 defeat in my eyes, leaving a nail-biting finish.


Sunderland (away) - Sun, 11 May

The finale! I haven’t considered the other results going on around us but I assume the bottom three will consist of Sunderland, Norwich and either Cardiff or Fulham on the final day. Wouldn’t it have been great to go to the Riverside leaving Sunderland win to send Cardiff down? I would have celebrated each goal flying in past Vorm.

However, given their run of games and shocking form I think they will be down before kick-off. That can only help us, so I see the Swans picking up something and celebrating survival - an ugly point or three will do nicely sitting on 38 points, or even the targeted 40. I'm going for a 2-2 draw.

Then we can all breathe and regroup, before a summer that will undoubtedly see considerable change at our beloved football club.


Agree with Alec? Or dare you disagree? Leave your own score predictions below! And make sure to follow Alec on Twitter.

Exclusive Sunderland POV: "Ki has been a revelation"

The transfer window is open and Swansea City are desperate for something to freshen up a tired squad. But who exactly are we looking for?

Apart from a goalscoring striker to take the pressure off Bony, we are after someone strong, someone with good feet and someone who can pass the ball. But who?

The answer is actually pretty obvious - Ki Sung Yeung! He's already a Swansea City player, but he's currently on a season-long loan to Sunderland (with a mid-season re-call option, which may prove to be important).

So how has Ki been doing up north? By all accounts very well. But who wants to hear all accounts? We want a concrete answer! So I've recruited David Boyle from the popular Sunderland website The Roker Report to give us the Sunderland perspective on Ki and how effective he's been for the Black Cats:

Ki has, quite simply, been a revelation on Wearside, especially under Gus Poyet. That may that sound like a ridiculous thing to say given Sunderland’s current predicament but Poyet has pretty much set his side up around your man and has given Ki licence to dictate play from the middle of the park with basically every attacking move we make going through the South Korean’s feet first.

It is no secret how Gus Poyet likes his teams to play - very much a style which is especially reminiscent to that of your own which won Swansea many plaudits over recent seasons and given the freedom to play in a central midfield of three, Ki has flourished.

Obviously transfers are a hot topic up and down the country at this time of year and I would not be exaggerating when I say that Ki would be top of my shopping list such is his importance to the side.

Quite whether or not a deal can be agreed either now or in the summer remains to be seen and would ultimately hinge on whether or not the club can beat the drop come May, but either way, we look incapable of playing possession football without Ki in the middle of the park.

Ultimately I fear the Ki situation on Wearside may well play out just like Danny Rose’s loan stint last year where he too caught the eye and won the admiration of the home fans for his superb performances at left-back only to play his way back into contention at White Hart Lane.

Selfishly, I’m desperate to see Ki make his spell with Sunderland a more permanent arrangement, although I could perfectly understand if Swansea were to give their man a second chance given the level of performance he has put in of late.

That's some praise! Perhaps we at Swansea didn't see the potential of Ki when he was sent out on loan, but it seems he's one loan player who would be in our best interests to get back as soon as we can.

A big thanks to David for taking the time to give us his opinions on Ki. You can follow David on Twitter.

Swansea City vs Sunderland: A lovely little preview

We're only in October, but we've already arrived at a crucial game for Swansea City. A win in the match against Sunderland on Saturday is very important!

Why? Firstly, despite an array of top players, Sunderland are rock-bottom of the league with just a single point. I have compassion, but Swansea need to take advantage of Sunderland's confidence and kick them when they're down, so to speak. They also have a new manager in Gus Poyet, so it's a great time to take all three points before he settles in.

And finally it's at the Liberty Stadium! The Swans' home form hasn't been that impressive this season, but understandable with Man United, Arsenal and Liverpool the opposition. This is the first of the "should-wins" at home, and the Swans must do exactly that.

Swansea should have a full squad, with Ben Davies, Pablo Hernandez and Garry Monk all back from injury. However it seems Ashley Williams will be out a little longer so expect Amat to replace him again. I'd like to see a middle three of Shelvey, Canas and Michu, with Hernandez and Routledge outside them - very attacking. And up front is obviously Bony. With a team like that, goals shouldn't be a problem.

Sunderland have surprised me this year as there are some quality players in their squad, including two with big Swansea connections - Fabio Borini and the on-loan Ki Sung Yeung. However, it's clear to see Paolo Di Canio didn't help things and is probably the reason they have done so poorly. With Gus Poyet I think they'll be much more solid. But now is a great time for Swansea to make sure they start his reign off with a lose!

I've asked David Boyle from top Sunderland website The Roker Report to give me his thoughts and a prediction ahead of Saturday's match, which he kindly agreed to:

Sunderland fans will anticipate yet another new dawn this weekend, something we have become accustomed to given the rate we've been going through managers recently!

Kevin Ball acted quickly to reinvigorate a squad left downtrodden and demoralised by Paolo Di Canio’s regime and Gus Poyet will be hopeful he can carry on the improved performances which Ball was able to produce during his spell as caretaker manager.

Poyet may well be keen to instil his preferred football philosophy of possession football and methodically looking after the football - something that Swansea fans are well accustomed to, but quite whether it is possible to implement yet another new tactical approach in such a short space of time remains to be seen. However, if we’re being honest, putting points on the board is much more important than easy-on-the-eye football at this stage for a side rooted to the foot of the table.

I wouldn’t expect Poyet to tinker too much or change from the 4-3-3 formation which Kevin Ball employed in the last two games. Obviously he will have to find somebody else to pull the strings in the middle of the park rather than your very own Ki who is unavailable due to the restrictions of the loan deal. I must say I’ve been impressed with the Korean; very tidy on the ball and a good eye for a pass, he has certainly added something to our middling midfield at the very least.

Steven Fletcher is also reportedly ahead of schedule in his bid to returning to action following a shoulder injury sustained against West Brom but if he is to feature it is likely to come from the bench.

It’s impossible to underestimate the importance of three points for the travelling side this weekend but I have a feeling that the spoils will be shared - score draw.

David believes a score draw is likely, which should be the very least Swansea should expect. However I feel the Swans will be too strong at home (hopefully) and too eager following their 2-0 loss to Southampton, so I'm going for a 2-1 win to Swansea.

See you at the Liberty!

Rodgers out!

Get him out! Bring back Sousa! What's Rodgers ever done for this club? While we're at it, lets get rid of Sinclair too!

I am, of course, being ironic. Or am I...? (Yes I am.)

The loud thud at the end of the loss to Sunderland was the sound of Swansea falling back to Earth after the euphoric victory against Arsenal.

I was a little surprised – I expected no less than a draw, especially with high team confidence and a decent run of recent away form. However, two classy goals from Stephane Sessegnon and Craig Gardner ensured Swansea were not even picking up one point, in a match where they actually deserved to.

Possession and passing were high as usual (64% possession for the travelling Swans), but they seemed flat near goal and were unable to put away any chances. Swansea had four attempts on target - Sunderland had just two and both went in.

During the match, I tweeted on Twitter (where else?):

Swansea frustrating in the final third as usual. Creating all the chances, but can't get anything from them.

I had a little stick from this, saying I was negative and my use of 'as usual' was way out of line, but I stand by it.

Swansea are usually frustrating in the final third. Think of all the possession and passing close to the box, but the opportunities that go wide, go over or don't actually go near the goal at all. Recently we've seen a little more cutting-edge from the players, but I think I'm right in saying they are frustrating to watch at times!

I'm not a negative person when writing about the Swans – a shameless plug for my recent article on the Sabotage Times will prove I am sometimes over optimistic when it comes to the future of the club.

However true you believe or don't believe the "frustrating in the final third" statement to be, there is no reason to vent your feelings against the players via social networking (yeah, it's happened again).

I'm not really listening to what's been happening – I don't follow any of the Swansea players on Twitter (or any footballers or "celebrities" for that matter), so I am not “in” on the conversation, but have noticed a number of mentions that someone or other is abusing some player about something he did in the match.

No need. Yes, Scott Sinclair is not putting them away like he was last season. He knows that. It's a different game in the Premier League so that affects things. Maybe he's just having a dip in form. But abusing players? Save it for the bigger celebrities who feed off the abuse, or other fans who have a go.

This ends a short blog. See you next week for a build up to the Chelsea match – another “big one” I am confident the Swans will win!

Swansea vs Sunderland: A brief look at another winnable game!

While Sunderland have had a recent revival after replacing Steve Bruce with Martin O'Neill, I see Swansea winning this one.

Going against Swansea is the fact that they are travelling. We know how poor their general away form is, but recent wins against Aston Villa and Barnsley, combined with that historic win over Arsenal should see the Swans full of confidence.

We've seen it before with Swansea though – it could well be another Blackburn (losing 4-2 away) as they sometimes lose concentration when not surrounded by 18,000 supporters.

I'm thinking 2-1 to the Swans today (currently 12/1 on PaddyPower). That could be a little optimistic if I'm being honest, so if you're after a bet, try something on 1-1 (at 5/1). Nathan Dyer to score in another game? It's pushing it but he seems to be on a roll at the moment and at 9/2 it could well be worth a few pound.

More of my thoughts on this game and recent Swansea City fixtures are here at the RokerReport.com after I guest blogged there earlier this week. Check it out!

Swansea 0 – 0 Sunderland: Still no goals

A rammed Liberty Stadium once again witnessed a 0-0 draw that only told half the story.

Swansea's general possession was less dominating than previous games, but their chances in front of goal increased, which is a positive. However, like the game against Wigan, they were not able to put anything in the back of the net, taking the "games-without-scoring" tally to four.

Scott Sinclair and Nathan Dyer were typically the main routes to goal, both creating several chances - Sinclair saw his rocket of a strike slam off the crossbar in the first half, while Dyer showed his strengths in skill and agility, as well as his one weakness: shooting!

Sunderland will also feel it was two points dropped as they were not without their golden opportunities. These emphasise Vorm's importance once again, as he kept Swansea in the game with a number of top quality saves, including the one-on-one with Gyan in the 72nd minute. Interesting coincidence: the penalty that Vorm saved against Wigan also fell in the 72nd minute!

Mentioning Asamoah Gyan, the battles between him and Ashley Williams were enjoyable to watch, while Steven Caulker, apart from one little blip, had another comfortable game - very confident in the air.

The middle three were unchanged from the match against Wigan and rightly so. It's a combination that seems to be working well, with Agustien's strength, Routledge's speed and Britton's determination to get the ball when, technically, he shouldn't be anywhere near it!

This brings us to Danny Graham, who, once again didn't score. I mean, the rest of the team didn't score either, but Graham has to be singled out as he's the striker that promised so much. It may just be the case of adjusting from Championship to Premier League, and one goal will open the cat flap (listen to me chatting with Ian Wright below for that cliché!), but the opportunities were there; opportunities that a striker should be putting away. Let's put it down to nerves – the pressure for him to get a goal now is very high, so when he receives it in the box he probably thinks too much instead of actually putting his foot through it. They'll come. If not, at least he didn't cost £50 million.

The next game Swansea will play will be after the international break, against Arsenal in two weeks time – a game which the Swans won't be expected to win, or probably even score in. So, with that pressure off, expect to see Graham come out of his shell and grab a hat-trick!

Absolute Radio called me up earlier in the week, asking me to take part in Ian Wright's 'Rock n Roll Football' show after the Swans match. I agreed; here's how it went!

Absolute Radio - Chris Carra / Ian Wright - Swansea City chat by ChrisCarra

Swansea City Weekly Catch-up: Shrewsbury, Sunderland and two gingers

I'm aiming to sum up Shrewsbury, preview Sunderland and talk about transfers in this bumper post, so I've split it into three digestible sections:


Shrewsbury 3 – 1 Swansea: Opinion

Swansea crashed out of the Carling Cup in the least glamorous fashion on Tuesday, losing 3-1 away to League Two minnows Shrewsbury. I wasn't at the match, so am basing this part of the blog on my experience of the game from watching Tony Cottee's scrutiny live on Sky, reading match reports and speaking to fans who made the journey.

In a recent blog post I stated it would be in Swansea's best interest to fall out of any cup games as soon as possible, avoiding the risk of injury and fatigue for some first team players, but I almost regret typing that now. Swansea shouldn't have dropped out in the fashion they did, not against a team 65 places below them in the collated league table and certainly not when they took the initial lead!

The worrying element is, despite theoretically being a weakened side, on paper it wasn't that weak. Plenty of first team players started the match (Ashley Williams, Danny Graham, Joe Allen, Alan Tate) with more joining in the second half as subs (Scott Sinclair, Stephen Dobbie and Neil Taylor) – between them they should have been able to seal a comfortable win or, at the very least, a goal (remember, the one Swansea 'scored' was an own goal by Shrewsbury's Cansdell-Sherriff). The rest of the team was made up with the likes of Leroy Lita, Luke Moore, Mark Gower and Jose Moreira who, last season, wouldn't have been considered weak players.

Can we single anyone out? Lita and Graham both missed chances; I guess for £3.5 million, Danny Graham should have scored against a League Two side. Maybe he wasn't being fed the ball enough but, again, this would highlight the ongoing problem of plenty of possession and attractive passing, but no end product. Graham is not the only one to blame. By all accounts, Orlandi and Gower seemed to waste set pieces and Tate was out of position a little too often. Ashley Williams was also singled out for acting too big for the game (see this post from an angry fan on a Swansea City message board).

I don't think anyone has ever seen or heard Brendan Rodgers speak so angrily about his team before, but the stark truth needed to be voiced and he did so very well. Though I can't see many players telling their grandchildren they lost to Shrewsbury, like Rodgers suggested, the statement hopefully makes them think, even feel a little embarrassed.

A good performance, and possibly a goal, against Sunderland on Saturday and this will all be forgotten, but it's been a wake-up call to the players and fans alike.


Transfers

The two gingers I mention in the title are Ryan Harley and Shaun MacDonald, who have both left the club permanently. Harley left for Brighton for an undisclosed fee, while Shaun MacDonald made the move to Bournemouth for £150K.

MacDonald was never going to force his way into the first team, so the move was probably best for his own career. One thing: I am glad we never got to see him play in front of the Sky cameras – I don't think the world was ready for Shaun MacDonald in High Definition, let alone 3D! Best of luck to him anyway.

Ryan Harley's departure, however, was a little more disappointing. He seemed to be an interesting prospect for the central attacking midfielder role back in January, though his immediate return to Exeter on loan allowed Stephen Dobbie to claim the position as his. With Premier League promotion and another helping of new signings able to slot into the role, Harley was left fighting one too many for the position.

He played a wonderful game for Brighton in the Carling Cup by all accounts; a 1-0 win against Swansea's next opponents, Sunderland. He might not have had first team football on tap in Swansea, but games similar to the one against Shrewsbury might have seen Harley able to push his case forward. Again, good luck to him.


vs. Sunderland

So, onto Sunderland, who Swansea play this Saturday at 3:00pm in the Liberty Stadium. It's a game full of opportunities: to get a much needed first goal (especially for Danny Graham), to get another point or three on the board and to claw back a little respect from the fans after the woeful display in the Cup.

What do you need to know about Sunderland? They are currently 13th in the Premier League, with one point. They lost 1-0 to Newcastle at home last week, though pushed Liverpool to a 1-1 draw at Anfield in their opening game. They've recently lost players such as Welbeck and Bent, though still have one of World Cup 2010's stars, Asamoah Gyan who is quick, clever and very exciting.

Swansea are actually favourites against last season's top ten team, currently 7/5 (PaddyPower). If I was betting on this one (...who am I kidding, I am betting on this one), I'd put a few pound on Sunderland to win as they are priced at 2/1; seemingly generous odds, all things considered. However, I predict another draw, albeit a score draw – my money is on 1-1 (currently 5/1).