Two sides in good form but at opposite ends of the table meet in the Championship on Saturday as Rotherham United host Swansea City.
Both teams are currently on their longest unbeaten runs of the season so far, but the Millers remain in the relegation zone while the Swans are second.
Match preview
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Rotherham achieved their joint-biggest win of the campaign on Wednesday as goals from Matt Crooks, Michael Smith and debutant Ryan Giles secured a 3-0 victory away to Middlesbrough.
It is now seven points from the last nine available for the Millers, who had slumped down the table and looked to be in a troubling patch as 2020 came to a close.
However, they are now just two points adrift of safety and have two games in hand over the teams above them, with a huge clash with Derby County to come next Tuesday.
Paul Warne has switched to a three-man central defence in recent weeks, and the new system appears to be getting the best out of Rotherham's small squad.; their task now is to achieve the club's first back-to-back wins in the Championship since April 2016.
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However, the hosts face a tough task against a Swansea side that are unbeaten in eight games in all competitions and in a strong position as they aim to win promotion.
The Swans had Kyle Naughton sent off and trailed 1-0 against promotion rivals Brentford in midweek, but new signing Conor Hourihane equalised to ensure that Steve Cooper's team remained in the top two.
Swansea have the best defence in the Championship, having conceded just 14 times this season, with Freddie Woodman keeping the most clean sheets (14) in the division; that includes the 1-0 win over Rotherham at the Liberty Stadium in November, which left the Millers with just one victory in their last six games against the Welsh side.
Like Rotherham, Swansea have a vital fixture coming up in a few days' time as they face league leaders Norwich City next Friday.
Rotherham United Championship form: WLLWDW
Rotherham United form (all competitions): LLLWDW
Swansea City Championship form: WWDWWD
Swansea City form (all competitions): DWWWWD
Team News
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Giles could make his first Rotherham start on Saturday afternoon after making an instant impact with a goal as a substitute against Middlesbrough.
Warne may otherwise keep his first XI the same after such an impressive victory, with Crooks, a defensive midfielder by trade, continuing to star upfront and keeping natural frontman Freddie Ladapo out of the side.
Naughton's two yellow cards against Brentford mean he is suspended for Swansea's trip to Yorkshire, with Ryan Bennett the most likely candidate to replace him at centre-back.
New signing Jordan Morris did not make it off the bench in midweek so will be hoping to make his debut on Saturday.
Rotherham United possible starting lineup:
Blackman; Ihiekwe, Wood, A. MacDonald; Olosunde, S. MacDonald, Lindsay, Wiles, Giles; Crooks, Smith
Swansea City possible starting lineup:
Woodman; Bennett, Cabango, Guehi; Roberts, Grimes, Fulton, Hourihane, Bidwell; Ayew, Lowe
We say: Rotherham United 1-2 Swansea City
Rotherham's new-found confidence will truly be put to the test here and this should be a closer game than it perhaps looked a few weeks ago. Nonetheless, we cannot see past the quality in Swansea's side so we are backing the visitors to take all three points.
Top betting tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Swansea City win with a probability of 42.34%. A win for Rotherham United had a probability of 30.1% and a draw had a probability of 27.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Swansea City win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.21%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.52%) and 0-2 (8.02%). The likeliest Rotherham United win was 1-0 (9.87%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.96%). The actual scoreline of 1-3 was predicted with a 3.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Swansea City would win this match.
