Manchester City and Swansea play a repeat of their EFL Cup encounter from three days earlier as they resume action in the Premier League. Pep Guardiola’s side overcame the Swans 2-1 in midweek and the boss will hope for a similar result at the Liberty Stadium once more on Saturday.
The start to life in English football couldn’t have been better for Pep Guardiola who with the midweek victory over Swansea in the EFL Cup made it 9 wins out of 9 in all competitions for Manchester City. Hence with morale and confidence understandably high, the Citizens will be favourites to put the Swans to the sword once more on Saturday.
On the contrary, Francesco Guidolin’s Swansea have made a poor start to the season with a disappointing tally of 4 points from 5 games to show for in the Premier League in addition to their 3rd round ouster from the EFL Cup. The Welsh club made a marked progress towards the end of the last season under the tutelage of the Italian who took over from Garry Monk.
However, cue in a summer exodus of attackers like Andre Ayew, Bafetimbi Gomis (loan) and Eder while also losing star defender Ashley Williams to Everton, and one begins to get the picture of where things have gone wrong at the Liberty Stadium. That said, Guidolin must rally his troups and bring them together ahead of a ludicrously tough set of fixtures when they entertain the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal along with a tricky trip down to Watford.
Team News and Tactics
Swansea City
There is no sugar-coating Swansea’s struggles at the moment. Guidolin, more than anybody, will be aware of his side’s poor start to the season and the tough teams that line up in the upcoming game-weeks in the Premier League. And if his side are to halt the worrying slide down to the relegation zone, they will have to begin with the almighty task of upstaging a relentless Manchester City on Saturday.
Nathan Dyer recently had a surgery to remove a bone outgrowth on his ankle and is expected to return to first-team action only towards the end of November. The 28-year-old remains the only confirmed absentee for the Welsh club ahead of the clash against the Citizens on Saturday. Leon Britton staked a claim for his involvement on Saturday after a solid performance on his return to action in the EFL Cup clash.
Borja Baston appeared in Swansea colours for the first time last week, since his club record £15 million move from Atletico Madrid. The striker then turned up an impressive performance against City on Wednesday and could be expected to start up-front on Saturday along with fellow summer recruit, Fernando Llorente.
Possible Starting XI (4-4-2) : Fabianski; Rangel, Amat, Fernandez, Kingsley; Ki, Sigurdsson, Fer, Barrow; Baston, Llorente
Manchester City
Things really couldn’t have kicked-off better for Pep Guardiola at City having helped his side maintain a 100% start to the season and even taking home the spoils from the Manchester Derby. After a second-string squad took to the field to dispatch Swansea on Wednesday, the Spaniard will be expected to bring his full-strength line-up for the repeat of that fixture on Saturday.
Sergio Aguero is set to return to action after serving his three-match suspension and will be expected to walk straight into the line-up. Vincent Kompany who made his long-awaited return against the Swans during their midweek victory is once again out due to a groin injury he suffered during the game. The time of his absence is not known but the news will certainly come as a disappointing one for all parties who have anxiously waited for the Belgian’s return.
Nolito who earned himself a red-card last week against Bournemouth following a heated exchange with Adam Smith is out due to a suspension and could have fellow summer signing Leroy Sane take his place instead. Fabian Delph and David Silva are yet to recover from their respective knocks and could sit-out during City’s 2nd visit to the Liberty Stadium in the space of three days.
It’ll be interesting to see if Guardiola continues to play Aleksander Kolarov in the centre-back role like he did last week against Bournemouth. The Serbian playing as a ball-playing centre-half attracted the plaudits from all quarters for his performance against the Cherries showing great distribution of the ball and composure. The 30-year-old had more touches of the ball than any other City player that day and definitely presented a strong case to continue in that role ahead of Nicholas Otamendi.
Yaya Toure is expected to remain frozen out of the first-team scene following the Ivorian’s agent’s bitter public spat with Guardiola. As impressive as Manchester City have been, their title credentials are yet to be issued their true test of character but there’s no denying the fact that things definitely look bright in the blue half of Manchester at the moment.
Possible Starting XI (4-1-4-1) : Bravo; Sagna, Stones, Kolarov, Clichy; Fernandinho, Sterling, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Sane; Aguero
Key Stats
- Manchester City are unbeaten in their last eight league meetings with Swansea, winning six and drawing two.
- The Swans have won just one of their 10 Premier League clashes with City – that was 1-0 at the Liberty Stadium in March 2012.
- Both teams have scored in each of the last five league matches between them.
- The Swans are yet to score a first-half goal in the league this campaign.
- City also won their opening five league games last season but they’ve never won their first six games in a top-flight campaign before.
- Pep Guardiola has won his first five Premier League games – the only manager to win more was Carlo Ancelotti, who won his first six as manager of Chelsea in 2009.
Players to Watch Out for
Swansea City: Borja Baston
Borja Baston impressed for the Swans on Wednesday and could prove to be a key cog in attack along with Sigurdsson. The £15 million summer acquisition from Atletico Madrid only returned to the scene last week after recovering from an injury and will be raring to go against the Citizens.
Manchester City : Sergio Aguero
Aguero has been on-fire whenever he has turned up for City and although the Blues didn’t miss him as much in his absence, his return definitely adds an unreal strength to their line-up making proceedings just that much more difficult to handle for Guidolin’s side. With 4 goals already in the bag this season and having missed out on 3 games, the Argentine will be hungry to return to action. It therefore leaves the Swans back-line with quite a job on their hands to try and contain the 28-year-old.
Betting Odds
One has already seen a preview of the matchup in the EFL Cup tie wherein Swansea struggled to match up to a City team mainly made up of second string players and youngsters.
Guidolin is under heavy pressure and is tipped to be replaced by Former Manchester United player Ryan Giggs, and this match could just prove to be the undoing of the Swans manager.
Favourable Bets :
1. Man City Asian Handicap -1.0,1.5 @ 1.85
2. 1st half Man City Asian Handicap -0.5 @ 1.825
3. Over 9.5 Corners @ 1.66
Underdog Bets :
1. Borja Baston to score anytime @ 4.00
2. Correct Score 0-0 @17.00
3. Correct Score 1-4 @ 21.00
Prediction
Swansea City 1-5 Manchester City
With all due respect to Swansea City, the Citizens look a class apart at the moment and it’ll take much more than Guidolin’s inspiration to fire the Welsh club to a surprising victory over the leaders. Manchester City have such an astonishing group of talented players in that side that even if they fail to turn up as a team, there is enough individual brilliance to carry them through. So keeping that and Swansea’s recent troubles in mind, there is hardly any way I can see Swansea nicking any point out of this match.