Swansea vs Stoke – Match Preview

Paul Clement said last week that this game against Stoke is the biggest since Swansea’s Play-off final win over Reading in 2011. A win that gave the South Wales club Premier League status and it is a status they have had for the past six seasons.

But that is very much under threat what with Swansea’s perilous position in the table and also the fact that their form has deserted them at just the wrong time. It’s just a solitary point from their last six matches as they look for a first win since March 4th when they beat Burnley at The Liberty Stadium.

And Today it is The Liberty Stadium in which they will play host to Mark Hughes’s Stoke side knowing that they need to find that winning feeling not just soon but today. With Hull in 17th also playing at home and having a better record in front of their own fans, Swansea know that they are going to have to at least match what Marco Silva’s men do at The KCom Stadium.

Swansea have managed to do that during the last two games but unfortunately for them it has meant that they stay 18th in the table. Where Hull have lost to Manchester City and Stoke, Swansea have lost to West Ham and Watford so it’s a case of as you were at the bottom of the table.

Last weekends trip to Vicarage Road was one to forget as they were masters of their downfall after defeat to Walter Mazzari’s side. Alfie Mawson who has been one of the better players since Paul Clement’s arrival was the villain as he was caught in possession by Etienne Capoue.

And although Capoue needed two attempts to finally score, he eventually took full advantage of Swansea’s sloppiness to make it a fruitless trip back to South Wales for the Swans. It was a Swansea performance that was full of nerves and lacking in spark.

Gylfi Sigurdsson once again tried to carry the attacking endeavour but it was too much for just one man to deal with and he was not helped by the fact that Fernando Llorente was resembling that of a carthorse. The former Spanish international ran just 20m during the whole game.

If Swansea are to have any chance of a win this afternoon then Llorente is going to have to put in much more of a shift then the one he put in last Saturday. Swansea do have to thank their opponents Stoke though as they took all three points from their tie with Hull last weekend.

It was a welcome win not just in the Swansea camp but also in the Stoke one as it was their first win in five matches after four successive defeats. After Harry Maguire levelled for Hull it took goals from Peter Crouch and a stunner from Xhedran Shaqiri to make sure of what turned out to be a deserved three points.

That win just eased the pressure on Mark Hughes after a poor run of results had some quarters questioning whether or not the Welshman was starting to come to the end of the road after his spell in charge of Stoke. You get the feeling that Stoke are going to have to finish well to make sure Hughes is once again in charge next season.

Such is the nature of mid table that it only takes a couple of positive results to completely change the complexion of how a team is performing. Another win to add to the victory over Hull last week and Stoke could move back up to 9th place, a position they know very well after two successive finishes there in previous seasons.

Can they get that win though or will Swansea finally dig themselves out of the rut, Stoke are all but safe and are certainly there for the taking. It’s pretty much do or die for Paul Clement’s men and I think they will do what they need and deliver a home win this afternoon.