Seeking to bounce back from defeat last weekend, Swansea City welcome Peterborough United to the Liberty Stadium for their Championship clash on Saturday afternoon.
The visitors, meanwhile, will be looking to claim their third successive league win in the second tier for the first time since 2012, and climb further away from the relegation zone.
Match preview
© Reuters
Swansea extended their unwanted winless run away from home to five matches when they lost 2-1 against Birmingham City at St Andrews last weekend.
Summer signing Michael Obafemi scored his first goal for the club in the 77th minute, cancelling out Troy Deeney's earlier strike, however the Blues regained the lead just five minutes later thanks to Riley McGree, condemning the Swans to their fifth league defeat of the campaign.
Last season's playoff finalists currently languish in 16th place, but they are just four points behind fifth-placed Luton Town, so a strong run of form in the coming weeks could see them climb the table considerably into a more favourable position.
Swansea are now preparing for their first league encounter against Peterborough since winning 1-0 back in February 2010. The Swans have not met the Posh in any competition since August 2016, beating them 3-1 in the second round of the EFL Cup.
Russell Martin's side have lost only one of their seven home matches in the league so far this season, and after winning each of their last three against Huddersfield Town, Cardiff City and West Bromwich Albion, they will be looking to record four consecutive home victories for the first time since April 2019.
© Reuters
After four Championship matches without a win, Peterborough have since claimed maximum points in their last two fixtures, including last weekend's 2-1 triumph at home against Queens Park Rangers.
Ilias Chair scored from a corner to give the visitors the lead shortly after half time, however the Posh turned the game on its head with Harrison Burrows netting a 56th-minute equaliser before Siriki Dembele scored a dramatic 91st-minute winner.
Peterborough have now won the same number of matches in their last two Championship fixtures as they had in the previous 12 games, with their most recent victory moving them five points clear of the relegation zone.
As delighted as Darren Ferguson will be to have claimed six points from their last two games, defensive frailties remain a concern for the Posh, who have now conceded 27 times in 14 matches, more than any other team in the division. Surprisingly, their only clean sheet of the campaign was at home against league leaders Bournemouth last month.
Peterborough have failed to win any of their last three home encounters against Swansea, but a victory on Saturday could see Ferguson's men climb as high as 15th in the table.
- W
- L
- D
- W
- W
- L
- L
- D
- L
- L
- W
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Swansea currently have a clean bill of health, so Martin has a fully fit squad to choose from for this weekend's game.
Korey Smith and Matt Grimes are expected to remain in centre-midfield ahead of Jay Fulton and Liam Cullen, while Ben Cabango will be pushing for a recall in defence ahead of either Ryan Bennett or Ryan Manning.
As for Peterborough, they will still be without Joel Randall (leg), Jack Marriott (tendon) and Ricky-Jade Jones (knee) due to injury.
The Posh can, however, welcome back striker Jonson Clarke-Harris following his four-match suspension for historical abusive tweets.
Clarke-Harris is expected to start as the central striker, with Dembele and Sammie Szmodics – who have six goals between them so far this season – set to join him in attack.
Swansea City possible starting lineup:
Hamer; Bennett, Naughton, Cabango; Laird, Smith, Grimes, Bidwell; Ntcham, Paterson; Piroe
Peterborough United possible starting lineup:
Cornell; Thompson, Edwards, Beevers; Ward, Taylor, Norburn, Butler; Dembele, Szmodics; Clarke-Harris
We say: Swansea City 2-1 Peterborough United
Peterborough have lost six of their seven away games so far this term, five of which were by margins of two or more goals, however Saturday's clash at the Liberty Stadium could be a closer affair.
Both sides will fancy their chances of claiming all three points, though the hosts will be the slight favourites against their newly-promoted counterparts and we expect them to come out on top with a slender victory.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
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 52.16%. A draw had a probability of 26.3% and a win for Peterborough United had a probability of 21.51%.
The most likely scoreline for a Swansea City win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.37%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.67%) and 2-1 (9.08%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.21%), while for a Peterborough United win it was 0-1 (8.22%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 5.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Swansea City would win this match.
