Garry Monk's Swansea City welcome the visit of Stoke City in the Premier League on Monday night as the Welsh club look to end a four-game winless run.
Travelling Stoke, meanwhile, are looking to pick up their third consecutive win in the league to help them recover from a rather disappointing start to the new term.
Swansea City
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Following a fairly positive start, Monk's charges now find themselves without a win in their last four matches.
It might have been perplexing to think that the Swans would find contests against Watford and Southampton beyond them after their impressive victory over Manchester United, but that is the way that things played out as City fell to defeat on both of those occasions away from home.
What might have pleased Monk, however, was their ability to bounce back with a solid draw against Tottenham Hotspur last time out, although there will still be some considerable concerns given that Swansea had led 2-1 in the game before letting three points slip away on home soil.
The Swans know that they have tended to be better at the Liberty Stadium this campaign and have picked up both of their victories this season in Wales.
The international break provided some real highs for the likes of Ashley Williams and Lukasz Fabianski, but Monk has moved to insist that all of his players will now need to be solely focused on the Premier League in order to end the club's current winless run.
Summer signing Andre Ayew has been pivotal at home and he has played a key role in Swansea's dominance at the Liberty, having scored three goals and assisted another four in league fixtures this term.
The Swans should have some confidence going into the clash given Stoke's record when visiting them in Wales. As it stands, the Potters have won only one game in their last 18 Premier League visits to Swansea.
Recent form: DWLDLD
Recent form (all competitions): WLDLLD
Stoke City
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Mark Hughes will be nothing short of delighted at his side's response to a rather drab start this campaign.
Stoke had picked up just three points from their first six games and also been on the end of troubling defeats to Liverpool, West Bromwich Albion and Arsenal.
A win over Fulham in the League Cup seemed to spark something for the Potters, however, and they have now picked up vital consecutive wins in the Premier League against Bournemouth and Aston Villa, moving them out of the relegation zone.
The past two victories have provided some important glimpses to suggest that Stoke's attacking qualities are starting to gel together.
Should City be able to claim victory at the Liberty on Monday night, they would register back-to-back away victories for the first time since December 2011 - a statistic that Hughes is surely eager to put right during his time in charge.
After they visit Swansea, Hughes and company face Watford and Newcastle United and they might just think that they can put together a promising winning run before they meet Chelsea at the start of next month.
Recent form: DLLDWW
Recent form (all competitions): LLDWWW
Team News
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The Swans face a slightly nervous wait to see if Ayew can shake off a slight injury in time, while Kyle Naughton could miss out again through personal reasons.
Ki Sung-yeung has been impressive of late and Monk will likely decide to keep him in the centre of the pitch at the expense of promising youngster Jack Cork.
As for the visitors, it is expected that Mame Biram Diouf will not feature on compassionate grounds.
Ryan Shawcross will remain out with a back problem, although Marc Wilson is available for Hughes. The big boost for Stoke will come in the news that Xherdan Shaqiri should be fit to start following some previous thigh issues.
Swansea City possible starting lineup:
Fabianski; Taylor, Williams, Fernandez, Rangel, Shelvey, Sung-yueng; Montero, Sigurdsson, Ayew; Gomis
Stoke City possible starting lineup:
Butland; Pieters, Wollscheid, Cameron, Johnson; Adam, Whelan; Arnautovic, Bojan, Shaqiri; Walters
Head To Head
These sides last met at the back end of the league campaign last season, when Swansea were able to claim a comfortable 2-0 victory on home soil. In the reverse fixture, Stoke proved 2-1 victors at the Britannia. Looking at the last six meetings between the two clubs, things are completely even. Both sides have won two, while the remaining contests ended in draws.
We say: Swansea City 2-1 Stoke City
Stoke have now won three games straight across all competitions, but they will still have a lot of work to do in order to turn around a rather bleak history when competing at the Liberty. Swansea are yet to lose at home this campaign, although they do currently find themselves winless in four games. Monk's men will be keen to put an end to some poor form and might just pinch this one.
Christopher Dodd
