Peterborough United will look to climb off the foot of the Championship table on Wednesday, when they welcome Swansea City to the Weston Homes Stadium.
The Posh find themselves in the midst of a 14-game winless run in the league, although they do remain just two points behind 22nd-placed Barnsley.
Match preview
© Reuters
As a result of their difficult first half to the season, Peterborough United found themselves embroiled in a battle for survival, and Darren Ferguson departed in February after a harmful defeat to Derby County left them nine Championship games without a win and five points adrift of safety.
He was replaced by Grant McCann, who previously led the club between 2015 and 2018, but his return has not gone to plan, with the Posh failing to correct their form.
They lost both of McCann's first two league matches at the helm, both of which being 3-0 thrashings at the hands of Huddersfield Town and his former club Hull City before registering a first point with a commendable 1-1 draw away at second-placed Bournemouth.
The Posh then looked set to fall to a narrow 2-1 defeat to Stoke City, only for Jonson Clarke-Harris to convert a penalty for his second goal of the game and snatch a point in added time.
While they remain at the foot of the Championship, the Cambridgeshire outfit do remain just two points off 22nd spot and six points adrift of safety, and, with three of the bottom four sides likely to be relegated given the gap up to 20th place, they will know they need to quickly reverse their fortunes and start posting victories to stand a chance.
© Reuters
Swansea, meanwhile, arrive looking to bounce back from consecutive defeats in the Championship.
Following the appointment of Russell Martin at the beginning of the season, it has largely been an inconsistent campaign for the Swans, albeit a transitional one with a clear plan for the future.
The Welsh outfit have now won four of their last eight league outings, losing the other four, but they looked to have turned a corner with consecutive victories over West Bromwich Albion and Coventry City.
Martin's men were unable to make it three on the bounce, though, as they were thrashed 5-1 at home to Fulham before being beaten 1-0 away at Blackpool last time out, as Gary Madine's early goal sent them home empty-handed.
That has seen the Swans drop to 16th spot, and, with rivals Cardiff City and Bristol City only a point behind, they will be keen to make a return to winning ways on Wednesday to prevent a further slide.
- L
- L
- L
- L
- D
- D
- L
- L
- L
- L
- D
- D
- W
- L
- W
- W
- L
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Peterborough United are without first-choice goalkeeper Steven Benda, who would be unable to play against his parent club anyway, and Dan Butler due to injuries, while Sammie Szmodics may continue to miss out too.
Jonson Clarke-Harris will lead the line with renewed confidence, having netted a brace to snatch a point last time out, breaking a nine-game drought.
He could be joined by Jack Marriott, with Jeando Fuchs likely to support the front two if Szmodics is not deemed fit.
Swansea will be boosted by the return of defender Ryan Manning from a suspension, allowing Martin to revert back to his full-strength back three.
Southampton loanee Michael Obafemi will battle with top scorer Joel Piroe to lead the line, likely with the support of Olivier Ntcham and Jamie Paterson.
Captain Matt Grimes should continue to command the midfield alongside Flynn Downes.
Peterborough United possible starting lineup:
Cornell; Edwards, Kent, Knight; Ward, Norburn, Taylor, Coulson; Fuchs; Marriott, Clarke-Harris
Swansea City possible starting lineup:
Fisher; Cabango, Naughton, Martin; Christie, Downes, Grimes, Ogbeta; Paterson, Ntcham; Piroe
We say: Peterborough United 1-1 Swansea City
While Swansea have not tended to play out many draws recently, we see a share of the spoils being the most likely outcome on Wednesday.
The hosts will certainly be battling hard to keep themselves in the fight for survival but may not possess the quality to put the Swans to the swords.
Top tip
Sam Varley
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 Swansea City win with a probability of 44.35%. A win for Peterborough United had a probability of 28.04% and a draw had a probability of 27.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Swansea City win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.9%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.63%) and 0-2 (8.62%). The likeliest Peterborough United win was 1-0 (9.68%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.92%). The actual scoreline of 2-3 was predicted with a 1.9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Swansea City would win this match.
