Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Swansea find themselves out of the bottom three thanks to a remarkable win over Liverpool last Saturday and they will look to use that as a springboard for the rest of the season in their continued bid to beat the drop come the end of the season.
Tonight they need to show that the win at Anfield was not just a flash in the pan and add more points to their league account. Standing in their way for that to happen in Southampton who they themselves have had recent success against Jurgen Klopp’s men.
Claude Puel brings his Southampton side to The Liberty Stadium with an EFL Cup Final berth secured and the possibility that The Saints could reach the Europa League for the third season in row should they manage to get past Manchester United at the end of February.
Swansea stunned just about everyone including even their own fans after that 3-2 win over Liverpool 10 days ago. New signings Tom Carroll and Martin Olssson played a vital role in that victory as the Swansea side seemed to be revitialised with a couple of new additions.
But it was left to arguably who you could consider their talisman to get the winner to silence Anfield. Carroll’s neat footwork at the edge of the box got him into a decent position only to see himself dispossessed but the luck for a change was on Swansea’s side.
The ball ricocheted perfectly into the path of Gylfi Sigurdsson and with his outstretched boot he managed to steer the ball past Simon Mignolet and one again restore The Swans lead. A lead that they would not relinquish as they earned three massive points to see them move up to 17th.
Since the appointment of Paul Clement, Swansea have won two of their last three matches. Perhaps Clement had nothing really to do with the win over fellow relegation battlers Crystal Palace but as a whole results are certainly pointing in the right direction.
Visitors Southampton will be buoyed by their EFL Cup exploits but they themselves need to rediscover a semblance of form in the league. Their last outing was a comfortable 3-0 win over champions Leicester at St Mary’s with that win bringing a first league win after a run of 4 straight losses.
And it’s that run of losses which has seen Southampton slip out of the top half of the table. The Saints currently find themselves in 11th although a win Tonight would see them return to the top half and move back into the 9th place that they recently vacated.
A lack of goals have been a constant issue for Southampton this season so it comes as surprise that the forward ranks have not been added to by Claude Puel but thankfully the lack of goals has been offset by a relatively watertight defence.
It’s only really been that 4-1 defeat to Tottenham at the end of December which has been the anomaly and they look to bring that resolute backline to South Wales this Evening. An attribute that Swansea after conceding over 50 goals already this season can only dream of.
Can Swansea build on that win at Anfield or was that result the exception rather than the rule, I guess it all depends on how much of an attacking threat that Southampton can actually pose. With Paul Clement slowly turning things around I have a feeling they can get something out of this and therefore I reckon this will be a Draw.
