MX23RW : Wednesday, January 15 20:44:08| >> :60:1268:1268:
[monks data]
Swansea logo
Premier League
Jan 17, 2015 at 3pm UK
 
Chelsea logo

0-5

FT(HT: 0-4)
Oscar (1', 36'), Costa (20', 34'), Schurrle (79')

Preview: Swansea City vs. Chelsea

Sports Mole previews Chelsea's Premier League trip to Wilfried Bony-less Swansea City as the Blues look to open up a five-point gap at the top of the table.

Chelsea have the opportunity to go five points clear at the top of the Premier League when they visit Wilfried Bony-less Swansea City on Saturday.

The Blues put daylight between them and Manchester City again last weekend courtesy of a 2-0 win over Newcastle United and City's dropped points at Everton.

Chelsea can extend their lead further with victory at the Liberty Stadium, and put the pressure on the reigning champions ahead of their test against Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

City boosted their title hopes at the expense of Swansea by luring Wilfried Bony away from Wales. A £28m deal for 2014's most prolific Premier League scorer was confirmed by both clubs on Wednesday.

Swans manager Garry Monk will be hoping that he gets some of the profits made on the Ivorian to spend on improving his squad this month as they slowly fall off the pace in the quest for European places.

Tottenham Hotspur right-back Kyle Naughton, Stuttgart midfielder Alexandru Maxim and Anderlecht forward Aleksandar Mitrovic have all been touted as targets, but Monk will have to go with what he has this weekend.

Ki Sung-yeung and Jonjo Shelvey are still unavailable because of Asia Cup duty and suspension respectively and therefore Tottenham loanee Tom Carroll should continue in the centre of the park.

With winger Jefferson Montero still sidelined by a hamstring strain, the hosts could go with the same starting lineup that drew 1-1 with West Ham United last Saturday, with Bafetimbi Gomis leading the line.

The ninth-placed Swans have won two and drawn two of their previous five top-flight games, but have failed to win on each of their last five matches against opposition who are above them in the table.

Jose Mourinho may be forced into one change from his favoured XI after Cesar Azpilicueta limped out of the victory over the Magpies. Filipe Luis was his first-half replacement and will start at left-back in his absence.

A finger injury is still troubling Thibaut Courtois and so Petr Cech could be maintained in goal. Gary Cahill was dropped following the 5-3 loss to Tottenham Hotspur, but is expected to return at the expense of Kurt Zouma.

John Obi Mikel may be called upon to combat the threat of Gylfi Sigurdsson, who is second only to Cesc Fabregas in Premier League assists this season, in a move that would see the Spaniard pushed further forward.

Swansea have won only once in the league at Stamford Bridge - back in 1926 - but were 2-0 victors in the first leg of a Capital One Cup semi-final on their way to lifting the trophy in 2012-13.

Swansea:

Form in Premier League: LWWLDD
Form in all competitions: WWLDWD

Possible starting lineup: Fabianski; Rangel, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor; Britton, Carroll; Routledge, Sigurdsson, Dyer; Gomis

Chelsea:

Form in Premier League: WWWLDW
Form in all competitions: WWDLWW

Possible starting lineup: Cech; Ivanovic, Terry, Cahill, Luis; Matic, Mikel; Hazard, Fabregas, Willian; Costa

Sports Mole says: 0-2


ID:199058: cacheID:199058:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:7121:
Written by
Joe Fish
No Data Analysis info

Previews by email

Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!


Restore Data
Share this article now:
Bafetimbi Gomis of Swansea City during the Barclays Premier League match between Swansea City and West Bromwich Albion at Liberty Stadium on August 30, 2014
Read Next:
Preview: Swansea vs. West Ham
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool20145148202847
2Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest21125430201041
3Arsenal20117239182140
4Chelsea21107441261537
5Newcastle UnitedNewcastle20105534221235
6Manchester CityMan City2110563829935
7Bournemouth219753225734
8Aston Villa209563032-232
9Fulham217953230230
10Brentford218494037328
11Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2061043029128
12West Ham UnitedWest Ham217592741-1426
13Tottenham HotspurSpurs20731042301224
14Manchester UnitedMan Utd206592328-523
15Crystal Palace204972128-721
16Everton193881525-1017
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2044123145-1416
18Ipswich TownIpswich2037102035-1516
19Leicester CityLeicester2035122344-2114
20Southampton2013161244-326


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!