Preview: Liverpool vs. Swansea City

Two sides looking to close the gap on the top four go head-to-head in the Premier League on Monday when Swansea City travel to Anfield to take on Liverpool.

Brendan Rodgers's side needed a second-half strike from Raheem Sterling to edge to a 1-0 win over Burnley on Boxing Day, leaving them ninth in the table, just a place behind their next opponents.

Goalkeeper Brad Jones misses out with the thigh injury that forced him off less than 20 minutes into the match at Turf Moor, meaning Simon Mignolet will start between the posts for the home side.

The manager will have Fabio Borini available again after he served his suspension for a sending off again Arsenal.

However, Dejan Lovren, Glen Johnson and Jon Flanagan all remained sidelined with long-term injuries.

Meanwhile, Swansea know that a win could be enough to move them up to fifth in the table following back-to-back wins in the league.

The Welsh side battled to a 1-0 win against Aston Villa on Friday, leaving them with three wins from their last five outings.

Manager Garry Monk has already indicated that he will be rotating his squad over the festive period, and will have to make at least one change for this match as Jefferson Montero is sidelined with a hamstring injury.

Jazz Richards, Wayne Routledge and Bafetimbi Gomis all dropped to the bench for the visit of Villa, so should be well rested if the boss plans to make further changes.

The two sides met in the League Cup earlier this season, with Liverpool knocking Swansea out in extra time.

Liverpool:

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

Possible starting lineup: Mignolet, Can, Skrtel, Sakho, Henderson, Gerrard, Borini, Markovic, Coutinho, Sterling, Lallana

Swansea City:

Recent form: DWLLWW

Possible starting lineup: Fabianski, Rangel, Fernandez, Routledge, Carroll, Ki, Dyer, , Richards, Sigurdsson, Emnes, Bony

Sports Mole says: 2-1