Two sides looking in opposite directions in the table go head to head when the Premier League resumes on Saturday as Hull City travel to the Liberty Stadium to face Swansea City.
The Tigers sit just three points clear of the relegation zone heading into this match, while Swansea, who are seven spots above Hull in the table, will be hoping to close the gap between themselves and Tottenham Hotspur, who are just one place above them.
Swansea City
© Getty Images
The home side were in mixed form heading into the international break, with three wins and three defeats in their last six outings, including a 1-0 win over Aston Villa in their most recent match.
Consistency has been lacking for Garry Monk's side this season, with the team having not won three matches in a row since their unbeaten start to the campaign back in August.
Scoring goals has also been something of a problem for the South Wales side since selling top scorer Wilfried Bony to Manchester City in January, scoring more than a goal a game just twice since the Ivorian departed.
However, April could be a productive month for Swansea, as they will not face a side that currently sit above them in the Premier League table until May 9, with matches against Everton, Leicester City and Newcastle United coming up later this month.
Swansea's chances of securing a place in Europe next season are slim, with 10 points separating them and the two sides above them in the table, but with eight matches remaining it is still a mathematical possibility for the team.
Monk's side have been a formidable prospect at the Liberty Stadium this season, losing just four times in their 15 home fixtures so far, but their stadium has not been as much of a fortress since the turn of the year, with just one of their five home matches in 2015 resulting in three points.
Recent form: LWWLLW
Hull City
© Getty Images
Hull headed into the international break on the back of a 3-2 defeat to league leaders Chelsea, despite coming from two goals down to leave Jose Mourinho's side needing a late winner at the KC Stadium
The result means that the Tigers have not won in their last four outings in the Premier League, a run which has left them just three points clear of Burnley, who are the highest-placed side in the bottom three.
Steve Bruce knows that it will be difficult for his side to turn around their form away from home, as they have picked up just two wins on their travels so far this season.
With matches against Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal to come in the final month of the season, Hull need to get points on the board in the next few weeks if they want to avoid being involved in the relegation battle in the final stages of the campaign.
Hull will have to do it the hard way though, as they are away to Southampton and Crystal Palace this month, while their only home fixture in April sees the visit of Liverpool.
While injuries have affected Hull's strike force this season, the visitors have been solid at the back in recent weeks, as their 3-2 defeat to Chelsea was the first time that Hull had let in two goals in one match since January.
Recent form: WWLDDL
Team News
© Getty Images
On-loan midfielder Tom Carroll will be missing after picking up an ankle injury while on duty with the England Under-21 side, in which he scored the winning goal against the Czech Republic.
The injury rules him out for around six weeks, which likely means that the Tottenham Hotspur man has played his last match in Swansea colours ahead of his return to White Hart Lane at the end of the season.
Meanwhile, Jefferson Montero will need a fitness test ahead of Saturday's match after he picked up a muscle strain while away with the Ecuador national side during the international break.
Monk may chose to rest Ki Sung-yueng, as he will have amassed air miles on his return from international duty with South Korea on Wednesday, captaining the team to a 1-0 win over New Zealand in Soeul, although the winger has been in strong form recently.
Dwight Tiendalli has not been a regular in the first team for Swansea in recent weeks, but they will have to cope without the defender for the rest of the season as he joined Middlesbrough on loan last week.
Meanwhile, Hull will be missing Tom Huddlestone again as he serves the second match of his two-game suspension for picking up a red card last month.
The visitors are hoping to be boosted by the return of Mohamed Diame and James Chester, who have both been back in training this week after long spells out with knee and shoulder injuries respectively.
If Diame is available, he could take the place of top scorer Nikica Jelavic, who is likely to miss the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery just before the international break, which is expected to keep him out for six weeks.
Swansea City possible starting lineup:
Fabianski, Naughton, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor, Cork, Shelvey, Dyer, Routledge, Sigurdsson, Gomis
Hull City possible starting lineup:
McGregor, Dawson, Bruce, McShane, Elmohamady, Robertson, Meyler, Livermore, Ramirez, Diame, N'Doye
Head To Head
When these two sides met at the KC Stadium just before Christmas, a Ki Sung-yueng goal handed Swansea all three points as they came away with a 1-0 win.
It was a reverse of the scoreline last time the two sides had met, while the two meetings prior to that both ended in 1-1 draws.
The highest-scoring of 26 previous league meetings between Hull and Swansea came in the 1997-98 season in the fourth tier, when the Tigers claimed a remarkable 7-4 win, which was their first of seven wins over this weekend's opponents.
Swansea have the edge in the head to head though, with 11 wins, while eight of their encounters have ended in stalemates.
Video Preview
Hit play below to see what the Sports Mole Sofa had to say about this encounter:
We say: Swansea City 2-1 Hull City
Hull have struggled away from home this season, and although their confidence from pushing Chelsea a few weeks ago is likely to keep them in the game, Swansea's superior form should be enough to give them the edge, particularly as they are on home soil.
Sian Cowper
