It will be a battle of strugglers as Crystal Palace welcome the Swans to the Selhurst Park tomorrow. Swansea are struggling badly and after admitting their move to appoint Bob Bradley as the manager was a mistake of epic proportions, they are Managerless now. Rooted to the bottom of the table, they are in direct competition with Hull City to occupy that spot. It is looking really bleak for the Swans and their heavily loaded frontline has severely disrupted the balance of the squad and on top of that, they are unable to score goals now.
Palace have appointed Sam Allardyce and for the former Sunderland boss, this will be their best opportunity of getting 3 points ever since he came on board. Two teams who have seldom shown any defensive nous this season will likely be embroiled in a scrappy end to end affair after having taking part in a 9-goal thriller already this season.
TRIVIA
- There were as many goals in the last Premier League fixture between these sides (9) as there had been in the previous six combined.
- In that match, Swansea became only the fourth team to turn defeat into victory with two 90th minute strikes in a Premier League match (Man City v QPR 2011-12, Everton v Tottenham 2012-13 and Watford v Aston Villa 2015-16).
- The Swans have kept four clean sheets their last five away league games against the Eagles, conceding just once in the other match (W3 D1 L1).
- Four of the seven previous Premier League meetings between these sides have ended in a draw, with Crystal Palace winning once (L2).
- The Eagles have lost five of their last six Premier League fixtures at Selhurst Park, winning against Southampton. However, their last three PL wins at home have come against sides beginning with the letter S (Stoke x2 and Southampton).
- Swansea have lost seven of their last eight away games in the top-flight (D1), conceding an average of 2.6 goals per game.
- Swansea have kept just one clean sheet in their last 10 Premier League games and have conceded 3+ goals in eight of these matches.
- Sam Allardyce lost his first Premier League meeting against Swansea City (Swansea 3-0 West Ham in August 2012) but is unbeaten in his six meetings with them since in the competition (W4 D2).
- Swansea have lost their last four league games – they haven’t lost five in a row in the top-flight before.
TEAM NEWS & PREDICTED LINE-UPS
CRYSTAL PALACE (4-2-3-1)
Crystal Palace will have Damien Delaney available again after he missed the loss to Arsenal due to suspension. Wilfried Zaha has been given special dispensation to play before going to the Africa Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast.
Hennessey; Kelly, Dann, Tomkins, Ward; Flamini, Cabaye; Zaha, Puncheon, Townsend; Benteke
SWANSEA CITY (4-3-3)
Swansea’s Wayne Routledge will be checked after he missed the defeat to Bournemouth due to a mouth abscess. Fernando Llorente is also a doubt after picking up a knock, but Jefferson Montero is definitely absent.
Fabianski; Naughton, Fernandez, Mawson, Taylor; Cork, Britton, Ki; Routledge, Sigurdsson, Barrow
BETTING ODDS
CRYSTAL PALACE- 5/6
DRAW- 11/4
SWANSEA CITY- 15/4
TRIVIA COURTESY- OPTA