Swansea City stretched their unbeaten record to eight games in midweek, as they trounced Notts County 8-1 in their FA Cup fourth-round replay, and Carlos Carvalhal will be hoping his in-form Swans can continue their fine run of form on Saturday afternoon and beat a Burnley side, who grabbed a shock point at home to Manchester City last weekend, and will be hoping to cement their seventh place position in the Premier League.
Having drawn 1-1 with Leicester City last weekend in the league, Swansea showed their attacking brilliance on Tuesday night, as a brace from Nathan Dyer and Tammy Abraham inflicted an eight-goal demolition over their League Two opponents, but Burnley will be in high spirits following their draw with the Premier League's runaway leaders last Saturday, thanks to a second half equaliser from Johann Berg Gudmundsson, and they will be hoping to record their first league win in ten games, as they have gradually fallen away from the top-six in the last couple of months.
In their last ten games in all competitions, Burnley have amassed five draws, and have failed to keep a clean sheet in eight of those matches, so they will be hoping they can strengthen up the defence at the Liberty Stadium, but with Swansea launching themselves out of the relegation zone this month, Carvalhal's men will be hoping to continue their fine run of form, which has seen them defeat both Liverpool and Arsenal in south Wales over the last few weeks, and fresh from their eight-goal annihilation of Notts County in midweek, they will have a dressing room full of confidence.
Carlos brings a little bit of home to the press pack ahead of today's press conference… 😁
Team News
Swansea's new signings Andre Ayew and Andy King are in line for a start, and Carvalhal is expected to bring back the likes of Lukasz Fabianski and Alfie Mawson, who were both rested for their midweek FA Cup tie, but both Leroy Fer and Wilfried Bony are out for the rest of the season through injury, while Renato Sanches and Angel Rangel are another brace of players on the injury list.
Burnley have several key players on the sidelines with defender James Tarkowski and goalkeeper Tom Heaton two of the premier players missing, while Robbie Brady, Steven Defour, Chris Wood and Jon Walters will also miss the game through injury, but left-sided player Stephen Ward is expected to feature, as Sean Dyche aims to recapture the winning thread in south Wales.
Recent Head-to-Head Record
There two sides have often locked horns in the lower echelons of the Football League, but it's Swansea City that have the best record recently in the Premier League, and they will be aiming to continue that decent record on Saturday afternoon.
- Premier League - 18th November 2017 - Burnley 2-0 Swansea City
- Premier League - 4th March 2017 - Swansea City 3-2 Burnley
- Premier League - 13th August 2016 - Burnley 0-1 Swansea City
- Premier League - 28th February 2015 - Burnley 0-1 Swansea City
- Premier League - 23rd August 2014 - Swansea City 1-0 Burnley
Verdict
Swansea looked a side in midweek that oozed confidence, and Carlos Carvalhal has really turned things around since taking over the reins from Paul Clement, and with Burnley struggling for form of late, it's hard to not see the home stretching their fine unbeaten run, and while this could be a game with very goals, it can be the hosts that prevail in what is an intriguing contest.
Prediction: Swansea City 2-0 Burnley
