Swansea City welcome Stoke City to the Liberty Stadium on Tuesday evening having failed to win any of their last three fixtures in the Championship.
While the Potters have put together a five-match unbeaten streak in the second tier, they remain behind their hosts on goal difference.
Match preview
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Having collected just one point from their opening two fixtures of the season, Michael O'Neill would have been concerned that Stoke would fail to build on their excellent run of results at the end of the last campaign.
However, the Potters have shaken off their slow start by recording 11 points from their last five outings, with the latest maximum haul coming against highly-regarded Brentford.
Although claiming points in low-scoring contests has become Stoke's trademark of late, they found themselves 3-0 ahead against last season's playoff runners-up before eventually having to fend off a late comeback.
O'Neill would naturally have been disappointed with how his side let Brentford back into the contest, but the positives will be taken from their considerable improvement in the final third.
Despite none of his squad contributing more than two goals in the league, Tyrese Campbell and Steven Fletcher are showing signs of emerging as the team's most effective partnership in the final third.
Steve Cooper will hope that he will eventually find the right combination for his Swansea attack with the Welsh outfit still having failed to score more than two goals in a match this season.
As it stands, the team's defensive record is ensuring that the club remain contenders at the right end of the table, but Cooper needs Andre Ayew and Jamal Lowe to build on their improving strike-rate.
While Swansea have still only suffered one defeat this season, failure to see off Huddersfield Town, Coventry City or Bristol City means that they now sit just two points above 14th position.
Eight of the squad, all of which are outfield players, have started every game this season, and it leaves Cooper to contemplate handing opportunities to members of the group who have been required to remain patient during the opening weeks.
Swansea City Championship form: DWWLDD
Stoke City Championship form: LWDWDW
Stoke City form (all competitions): WWDWDW
Team News
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Recent signing Ryan Manning and veteran Wayne Routledge are both pushing for opportunities in Swansea's first XI.
However, Cooper is not expected to tinker with the side which earned a point at Bristol City on Saturday afternoon.
Stoke counterpart O'Neill is also likely to opt against making any alterations for this contest.
Josh Tymon is a potential alternative for Jacob Brown, a move which would allow James McClean to move further forward.
Swansea City possible starting lineup:
Woodman; Cabango, Bennett, Guehi; Roberts, Smith, Fulton, Grimes, Bidwell; Lowe, Ayew
Stoke City possible starting lineup:
Davies; Collins, Souttar, Chester; Smith, Mikel, Thompson, McClean; Brown, Fletcher, Campbell
We say: Swansea City 1-1 Stoke City
Stoke have conceded over half of their seven goals this season in the last two matches, something which will only encourage Swansea to try to press forward on Tuesday evening. However, we feel that the home side will continue to struggle in the final third, potentially resulting in an uninspiring draw being played out in South Wales.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 1.5:data
Darren Plant
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 43.34%. A draw had a probability of 29% and a win for Stoke City had a probability of 27.66%.
The most likely scoreline for a Swansea City win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.25%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (8.8%) and 2-1 (8.13%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (13.17%), while for a Stoke City win it was 0-1 (10.67%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with an 8.8% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Swansea City would win this match.
