Heading into the season Swansea may have thought Leicester’s trip to Liberty Stadium would be an easier match in the sandwich of tough opponents.
Though December has started and the situation is entirely different.
Wining one point per game on average this season, Swansea are far from satisfied. Sitting three spots above the relegation zone is not what Garry Monk wanted at this stage of the season, but the match against Leicester could only deepen the problems Swansea’s manager has. The Foxes are proudly standing in between the two Manchester sides and after last week’s draw against Louis van Gaal’s United, have no intention of giving up the second place they are occupying.
After traveling to Anfield, where Swansea lost 1-0 from James Milner’s penalty kick, Garry Monk is facing new issues. The loss to the fuming Leicester side could see Wales-based club sliding just one point above the drop zone. To make things worse, Monk’s shuffling of the starting XI did not help against Jurgen Klopp’s in-form side and the manager will need Bafetimbi Gomis waking-up from the ‘autumn sleep’ he fell into after scoring the winning goal against Manchester United on the last day of August.
Key Battle – Andre Ayew vs Riyad Mahrez
Andre Ayew has been the only player at Swansea contributing to the attacking play since Gomis got out of form. His defensive work helps Kyle Naughton and Ki Sung-yueng, but his rhythmic, pacey game is being used well in attack. On the other side, the Algerian miracle Riyad Mahrez has been phenomenal from the opening day and has not stopped ever since, scoring seven and assisting six goals this season, making him ruthless when paired with Jamie Vardy.
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Team News
Once again, Garry Monk does not need to worry about the injuries, yet that could be the only good thing at the Liberty Stadium right now. With only one win in last nine matches, the Swans need to find the confidence to push them forward. This has been by far the worst run of matches since Michael Laudrup was sacked in February 2014.
We have seen Monk changing his starting XI in the last couple of games, though they did not make any bigger impact. Leon Britton had a poor game against Bournemouth and Eder did not find his way around in the two matches he started as the sole striker. Whoever starts the match upfront will have a tough task ahead of him, with Robert Huth and Wes Morgan in great shape in the middle of Leicester’s defense. Ashley Williams must find his best ways on Saturday if Swansea are to stop Vardy’s historic goal-scoring run.
Leicester City fans have been blessed with amazing displays of their team, but Claudio Ranieri has been blessed his core of the squad is fit. Only Ritchie de Laet is injured and will be out through ankle injury for another six weeks, while the on-loan Nathan Dyer will not feature against his parent club.
Vardy’s unlikely run could be prolonged to 12 games in a row, while Mahrez and Shinji Okazaki could seriously damage Swans from the counter-attack. The Jacks have been struggling on the flanks recently and Leicester could exploit that this weekend.
Head-to-head
Swansea and Leicester played seven times and every time the home team won. The Swans won three times at Liberty, while the Foxes won four matches at King Power Stadium.
Last meeting
In April this year the two teams met on Leicester’s soil, with the hosts winning 2-0 during their quest of survival in the Premier League. Goal-scorers for the Foxes were Leonardo Ulloa and Andy King.
Prediction
Swansea have been seriously struggling and their style of play might suit Leicester very well. The counter-attacking, all-the-time pressing team of Ranieri’s will exploit uncertainty of the home players and continue great run of results.
Swansea City 1 Leicester City 2
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