Playoff chasers Millwall will be looking to return to winning ways in the Championship when they welcome Swansea City to the English capital on Tuesday night.
The home side are currently 10th in the table, four points behind sixth-placed Blackburn Rovers, while Swansea, who thrashed Cardiff City on Saturday, occupy 16th position, 11 points off the playoffs.
Match preview
© Reuters
Millwall won five straight Championship matches between February 12 and March 5 to place themselves firmly in contention for a playoff spot, but they have only picked up maximum points from their last five games.
Since beating Huddersfield Town 2-0 in the middle of March, they have lost to Stoke City and drawn with Luton Town, which has seen them drop into 10th spot in the table, four points behind sixth-placed Blackburn.
The Lions now have back-to-back home matches against Swansea and Barnsley before a trip to Preston North End on April 15, and it will be fascinating to see where the capital outfit are in the table heading into their home clash with Hull City on April 18.
Millwall have never played in the Premier League, so it would be some achievement if they earned promotion to the top flight, but they have a lot of work to do to reach the top six, with Huddersfield, Luton Town, Middlesbrough and Blackburn currently the four teams in the playoffs.
Gary Rowett's side have been strong in front of their own fans this season, picking up 36 points from 19 matches, while they will be taking on a Swansea outfit that have won just six of their 20 away league games this term, boasting only the 14th-best record on their travels in 2021-22.
© Reuters
Swansea, meanwhile, will enter the match off the back of a thumping 4-0 win over Welsh rivals Swansea on Saturday afternoon; Michael Obafemi scored twice for the Swans at the Cardiff City Stadium, while Ben Cabango and Hannes Wolf also registered in the derby match.
Russell Martin's side have picked up seven points from their last three matches against Peterborough United, Birmingham City and Cardiff during a strong run, but a disappointing campaign overall has left them down in 16th spot in the table, boasting 51 points from 38 matches.
The Swans are 11 points behind sixth-placed Blackburn with two matches in hand; the team can still mathematically finish in the playoffs, but it is incredibly unlikely due to the amount of sides above them.
Swansea have been missing from the Premier League since the 2017-18 campaign, losing in the Championship playoffs in each of the last two seasons, and they are set for a fourth straight season in the second tier of English football, but the supporters will have been encouraged by the team's recent performances.
- W
- D
- D
- W
- L
- D
- W
- L
- L
- W
- D
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Millwall will be without the services of Mason Bennett, Shaun Hutchinson and Ryan Leonard for Tuesday's Championship contest with Swansea through injury.
Having not suffered any fresh issues against Luton on Saturday, it would not be a surprise to see head coach Rowett select the same XI for this match.
Benik Afobe and Tom Bradshaw were both on the scoresheet last time out and should continue as the front two despite pressure from Oliver Burke, while Jed Wallace is likely to retain his spot in the number 10 position.
As for Swansea, Ryan Manning is expected to be back in the side, having served a suspension, while Olivier Ntcham could take the place of Jamie Paterson on Tuesday night.
Nine of the XI that started against Cardiff on Saturday should keep their spots, including Obafemi, who netted a brace during an impressive performance in the Welsh derby.
Manning's return will likely see Joel Latibeaudiere drop down to the bench, while Jay Fulton is also expected to be among the substitutes for Martin's side in the English capital.
Millwall possible starting lineup:
Bialkowski; Ballard, Cooper, Wallace; McNamara, Mitchell, Saville, Malone; Wallace; Afobe, Bradshaw
Swansea City possible starting lineup:
Fisher; Cabango, Naughton, Manning; Christie, Downes, Grimes, Wolf; Piroe, Obafemi, Ntcham
We say: Millwall 2-2 Swansea City
Millwall desperately need to win this match, as they bid to stay in touch with the top six, but Swansea will be flying following their excellent win over Cardiff. We believe that there will be goals on Tuesday night, predicting an entertaining 2-2 draw at the Den.
Top tip
Matt Law
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Millwall win with a probability of 37.9%. A win for Swansea City had a probability of 32.1% and a draw had a probability of 30%.
The most likely scoreline for a Millwall win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.64%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (7.5%) and 2-1 (7.41%). The likeliest Swansea City win was 0-1 (12.24%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.46%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 12.2% likelihood.
