MX23RW : Monday, November 25 19:13:18| >> :120:3604:3604:

Preview: Manchester City vs. Swansea City

Sports Mole previews the Premier League clash between Man City and Swansea, who could go level on points with the champions with victory at the Etihad Stadium.

Out-of-sorts Manchester City will need to be wary of Premier League giant-killers Swansea City when they meet at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Welsh outfit backed up their opening-day win against Manchester United with a come-from-behind success over Arsenal prior to the international break.

Garry Monk's side are fifth in the table and with every notable scalp comes more belief that they could remain in the European places come the end of the season.

Victory over a vulnerable City side who have won just one of their last six games in all competitions would take Swansea level on points with the English champions.

The hosts, who drew 2-2 with Queens Park Rangers a fortnight ago, have already afforded leaders Chelsea an eight-point cushion and cannot afford too many more slip-ups if they are to defend their title.

Confidence in the camp is low following a League Cup exit to a weakened Newcastle United, and several Champions League results which have left them in dire straits ahead of the visit of Bayern Munich on Tuesday.

The much-missed David Silva is still unavailable and has recently been joined in the treatment room by Aleksander Kolarov and Edin Dzeko, who lasted only four minutes against Rangers before pulling up.

Some good news, however, is that influential captain Vincent Kompany has trained this week, despite sitting out Belgium's Euro 2016 qualifier with Wales. The defender should be fit to partner Martin Demichelis.

Manuel Pellegrini may start Stevan Jovetic alongside Sergio Aguero in a bid to ease the burden on the Argentine striker, who has scored 10 of City's last 14 goals and 11 in his previous 10 outings.

Wingers Nathan Dyer and Wayne Routledge are both doubts for the Swans, but Garry Monk will be hoping that one of them is available to start on the opposite wing to improving Ecuadorian Jefferson Montero.

Jonjo Shelvey is back from suspension and should replace Tom Carroll in the middle of the park. Kyle Bartley is in line to continue at centre-back, with Federicio Fernandez still sidelined by a calf strain.

Wilfried Bony, who signed an extended contract at the Liberty Stadium this week, should start up front despite a busy international schedule, as Swansea go in search of a first win at City since 1951.

Man City:

Form in Premier League: WWWLWD
Form in all competitions: DLLWLD

Possible starting lineup: Hart; Zabaleta, Demichelis, Kompany, Clichy; Milner, Fernando, Toure, Nasri; Jovetic, Aguero

Swansea:

Form in Premier League: DDLWDW
Form in all competitions: DLWLDW

Possible starting lineup: Fabianski; Rangel, Bartley, Williams, Taylor; Shelvey, Ki; Montero, Sigurdsson, Routledge; Bony

Sports Mole says: 1-1


ID:189223: cacheID:189223:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:6505:No Data Analysis info

Previews by email

Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!


Restore Data
Share this article now:
Nacer Chadli of Spurs and Mathieu Flamini of Arsenal battle for the ball during the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur at Emirates Stadium on September 01, 2013
Read Next:
Team News: Arsenal make one change
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool1210112481631
2Manchester CityMan City127232217523
3Chelsea126422314922
4Arsenal126422112922
5Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton126422116522
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs1261527131419
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest125431513219
8Aston Villa125431919019
9Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
10Fulham125341717018
11Brentford125252222017
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd124441313016
13Bournemouth124351617-115
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Everton122551017-711
16Leicester CityLeicester122461523-810
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves122372028-89
18Ipswich TownIpswich121651323-109
19Crystal Palace121561017-78
20Southampton121110924-154


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!