Swansea City Aiming to Build on Good Start

Last season was tough for Swansea City and they looked destined for the drop before a great end of season run saw them move away from the relegation zone.

Many people have tipped them for the drop this season, especially having lost the influential Gylfi Sigurdsson to Everton in the summer transfer window.  Swansea also lost Fernando Llorente to Tottenham Hotspur but have brought in Renato Sanches, Sam Clucas and Wilfried Bony.

Newcastle United have been quiet in the transfer market following their promotion back to the Premier League from the Championship.

Rafa Benitez was probably hoping to bring in at least one big name player before the close of the window but was unable to do so, with the £11 million spent on Jacob Murphy being their biggest deal.

Swansea City began their 2017/18 campaign with a 0-0 draw at Southampton.  They were second best for most of the match and failed to create many chances to score but it was a good point nonetheless.

Unfortunately for Swansea, they faced Manchester United in their next match and kept the Red Devils at bay for much of the game but when they tried to attack themselves towards the end of the match, they were easily picked off and lost the game 4-0.

However, they responded superbly at Crystal Palace before the international break and picked up a good 2-0 win, thanks to goals from Tammy Abraham and Jordan Ayew.

Despite the heavy defeat to Manchester United, trends show Swansea have improved defensively and have kept a clean sheet in four of their last six league games.

Newcastle United head to South Wales having picked up 3 points from their three Premier League games.

The Magpies lost at home 2-0 to Tottenham Hotspur on the first weekend of the season and followed this with a 1-0 defeat at Huddersfield Town.  Thankfully, Rafa Benitez’s team picked up their first win and points of the new campaign prior to the international break with a 3-0 home win against struggling West Ham United.

Trends show Newcastle have won one of their four competitive matches this season.  Away from home, they have won two of their last six, including games in the Championship last season.  Newcastle have failed to score a goal in 50% of those games.

Swansea fans will be hoping to see their new players in action and Renato Sanches is set to make his debut in midfield, along with Sam Clucas.  Tammy Abraham should keep his place up-front, with Wilfried Bony on the bench.

Rafa Benitez must decide which of his strikers he is going to use for this game and with Aleksandar Mitrovic suspended, Joselu and Ayoze Perez are pushing for a start.  Jonjo Shelvey is also suspended and Dwight Gayle is a doubt with illness.

Swansea will see this as a chance to cement their decent start to the season with a win.  They have kept two clean sheets so far but must be willing to move more men forward if they are to win this match.

That could see for a more open game and don’t be surprised to see over 2.5 goals scored in a win for the home team.