Swansea City now have a major gap in their squad following the £25 million departure of prolific striker Wilfried Bony to Man City. And this is bad news for Swansea because they had already been struggling to find the back of the net. In the past 25 league games, they have only scored 28.
Looking to the Swansea strike force, the only prominent name is Bafétimbi Gomis, who played in Ligue 1 for years with Lyon. Since coming to England, though, Gomis has struggled for goals, only managing once in the league. And it’s not as if he hasn’t been playing, as Bony was off at the African Cup of Nations in January.
Man Utd moved back into third place more at the expense of Southampton than due to their recent performances. In the last round of Premier League games, Southampton drew 0-0 at home to West Ham and Man Utd saw off 3-1.
Although 3-1 looks like a clear victory on paper, Man Utd were anything but convincing. Had Chris Smalling not scored two rare goals and Robin van Persie added a penalty, this could have been an embarrassing result.
Expectations
For Swansea, they still have a solid defence and a midfield that thrives when the creative Gylfi Sigurdsson is in the side. After serving a three-match suspension, Sigurdsson will be back. And that is crucial because of Swansea’s goal scoring issues. However, Swansea will still lack in firepower.
Louis van Gaal is becoming more controversial as the season passes. Currently, he has admitted that Wayne Rooney is likely his best striker, but feels that he better serves the team as a whole from midfield. Anyone who has seen the Reds play lately will tell you that the Man Utd team had not played well together. Scoring against Swansea will be extremely difficult for them.
Match Tips
Tip one: Under 2.5 goals, best odds 1.91 @ Ladbrokes
Tip two: Draw, best odds 3.5 @ Ladbrokes
Swansea are strong defensively and Man Utd will struggle to break them down. Consequently, backing under 2.5 goals appears to be a safe option. Additionally, a draw could be the outcome of this tight affair.
