Preview: Swansea City vs West Bromwich Albion - prediction, team news, lineups

Both aiming to forget about their Championship woes for the weekend, Swansea City and West Bromwich Albion clash in the third round of the FA Cup on Sunday afternoon.

The Swans suffered a heartbreaking defeat at Millwall last time out, whilst the Baggies' loss at Leicester City signalled time for a change in the dugout.

Match preview

After winning three of four matches over the end of the festive period, Swansea City were dealt a late blow at Millwall on Sunday afternoon, when a last-minute effort from ex-West Brom defender Caleb Taylor secured a 2-1 win for the Lions in London.

Nevertheless, the Swans have undoubtedly improved since the arrival of Portuguese head coach Vitor Matos, who has overseen a great home revival, with Sunday's hosts winning each of their last four matches at the Swansea.com Stadium.

The latest of those successes arrived at the expense of West Brom on New Year's Day, when the Baggies were punished for missed chances as midfielder Jay Fulton fired home a wonder strike for the Welsh outfit.

Collecting a commendable tally of nine points from their past five second-tier battles, Swansea have moved up to 17th spot in the Championship standings ahead of an FA Cup break, eight points above Norwich City in the highest of the relegation spots.

Relatively recent winners of the EFL Cup in 2013, the Swans have enjoyed no such triumph in football's oldest cup competition and were knocked out of the FA Cup at this stage last season following a 3-0 defeat at Southampton.

Matching a century-old record, West Brom suffered their 10th consecutive away defeat on Monday night at the King Power Stadium against Leicester, who brought a sickening end to the ill-fated reign of Ryan Mason.

Similar to a lot of their Championship outings during the current wretched run, the Baggies were undoubtedly the better side in the East Midlands but could not find another goal in the second half, leaving room for Abdul Fatawu to volley home a winner for the hosts.

Following the dismissal of 34-year-old Mason earlier this week, Albion legend James Morrison has been placed in interim charge of the first team for Sunday's FA Cup clash at Swansea, where they will aim to progress into the fourth round.

The Black Country outfit were handed a tricky third-round tie last season in the form of Premier League contenders Bournemouth, and a heavy-rotated Albion outfit were smashed 5-1 at the Vitality Stadium, with Manchester City new boy Antoine Semenyo amongst the goals.

West Brom will not be too confident of earning their first away win since October 1 this weekend, especially considering that they are six games without a victory at the South Wales base of Swansea (D2 L4) stretching back to March 2020.

Swansea City form (all competitions):

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West Bromwich Albion form (all competitions):

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Team News

Swansea's only specialist right-back at the time of writing, Josh Key is sidelined until the end of the January with a foot injury.

The Swans are looking to address that deficiency in the January window, with Crystal Palace legend Joel Ward signing for the club on Friday.

The hosts' options in attack this weekend are reduced by the absences of Adam Idah (hamstring) and Liam Cullen (calf).

West Brom made their first inbound move of the winter trading point this week, recalling Harry Whitwell from a loan spell at Forest Green Rovers.

Rovers head coach Robbie Savage has confirmed that the young midfielder has been brought back to The Hawthorns to feature in the first team.

The Baggies have lost a number of players in the middle of the park to injuries in recent weeks, including Toby Collyer (muscle) and Tammer Bany (thigh).

Swansea City possible starting lineup:

Fisher; Casey, Parker, Cabango, Tymon; Stamenic, Widell, Yalcouye, Inoussa, Eom; Wales

West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:

Wildsmith; Gilchrist, Bielik, Taylor, Styles; Diakite, Mowatt; Iling-Junior, Price, Grant, Maja

We say: Swansea City 2-1 West Bromwich Albion

Looking for their fifth consecutive home win this weekend, Swansea should be confident of achieving that feat against a homesick West Brom side.

The Baggies could be galvanised under the temporary leadership of Morrison, but we still believe that an FA Cup exit is forthcoming for the managerless visitors.

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