Following a much-needed first win in seven outings last time out, Swansea City will aim to make it back-to-back victories when they host Watford at the Swansea.com Stadium on Tuesday.
The hosts are 12th in the Championship table with 16 points, while the visitors are fifth in the standings with 22 points from 13 outings.
Match preview
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Other than disappointing seasons in 2021-22, when they finished 15th, and 2023-24, when they finished 14th, Swansea have consistently been battling for a place in the playoffs since being relegated from the Premier League in 2017-18.
After a horrific start to 2023-24, Swansea managed to largely recover as they climbed into the middle of the table, largely thanks to the efforts of Luke Williams, who joined the club in January 2024.
With 2024-25 providing a fresh start for the Swans, they would have been aiming to once again close the gap on the playoff places, but they have endured yet another underwhelming opening to the campaign.
Swansea initially had a good start, winning three and drawing one of their first six league fixtures, but a run of six matches without a victory followed, seeing Swansea slip down the table.
The Swans failed to score in five of those outings, but they finally found the goals in their last outing as they defeated newly-promoted Oxford United 2-1, with goals from Zan Vipotnik and Florian Bianchini.
Williams will now be aiming to secure back-to-back league wins when they take on Watford on Tuesday, though the visitors are likely to prove a challenging test for the hosts.
Watford have enjoyed a positive opening to a campaign in which they aim to return to the playoff places for the first time since being relegated from the Premier League in 2021-22.
The Hornets are currently fifth in the Championship standings having taken 22 points from their opening 13 games, with seven wins, one draw and five losses.
They recorded their biggest win in the league this season when they defeated Sheffield Wednesday 6-2 in their last outing, a result that will certainly give them confidence heading into this one, and they will aim to replicate that performance on Tuesday.
Watford have only defeated Swansea once in their last three visits to the Swansea.com Stadium, though they have recorded two wins and a draw in the last five meetings either home or away.
Team News
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Andrew Fisher, Ji-Sung Eom and Josh Ginnelly are all ruled out of this match due to ongoing injury issues, while Josh Tymon is suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
Elsewhere, a similar side to the one that defeated Oxford United in their last outing could feature here, though Bianchini could come into the starting team after scoring in that game.
As for Watford, Angelo Ogbonna, Jeremy Ngakia and Tom Dele-Bashiru are all not expected to play due to ongoing injury concerns, while Ryan Porteous is suspended for accumulating five yellow cards throughout the first 13 fixtures.
Having recorded a superb 6-2 win against Sheffield Weds in their last match, Tom Cleverley could decide to name a similar starting team for this one.
Swansea City possible starting lineup:
Vigouroux; Key, Cabango, Darling, Tymong; Grimes, Franco; Ronald, Allen, Bianchini; Vipotnik
Watford possible starting lineup:
Bachmann; Ebosele, Sierralta, Pollock, Larouci; Baah, Ince, Dwomoh, Kayembe, Chakvetadze; Bayo
We say: Swansea City 1-3 Watford
The visitors have enjoyed the much better beginning to the 2024-25 campaign, and despite Swansea boasting the home advantage, we believe Watford will win this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ellis Stevens
