Swansea City will be looking to bounce back after a 2-1 defeat away at Champions Manchester City.
After a bright start to the season Garry Monk will be wary of a visit from a Palace side still buzzing from handing Liverpool another miserable visit to Selhurst Park after over turning a one goal deficit to win 3-1 last Sunday.
The side from the Liberty Stadium are in good form, having only lost one out of their last six league games and are in fine fettle sitting seventh in the Barclays Premier League.
Boss Garry Monk has been lauded for the start the South Wales outfit have made having beaten Arsenal at the Emirates and Manchester United at Old Trafford in recent weeks. He has been quick to praise both Gylfi Sigurdsson and Wilfired Bony who have been in excellent form so far this campaign. Striker Bony netted the opening goal at the Etihad last Saturday, the sixth goal in the last five games for the Ivorian striker. A win would have seen the Swans go level on points with their hosts but came undone at the hands of Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure.
The Swans welcomed eleven fresh faces in at the Liberty stadium over the summer. Icelandic international Gylfi Sigursson returned to the club from Tottenham Hotspur after choosing South Wales over South London as the playmaker was also a target for the Eagles.
Lukasz Fabianski, Bafatembi Gomis and Federico Fernandez were also purchased in a transfer window that saw only £15m spent. Eleven players left Swansea over the summer, the most notable of which was Michu who left on a loan deal to Napoli whilst keeper Michel Vorm joined Spurs as well as promising young full Ben Davies.
Team News
Crystal Palace – Damien Delaney was forced off in the victory over Liverpool and was replaced by Brede Hangeland who will start if the Irishman is unable to make the trip. Neil Warnock has no other injury concerns.
Swansea – Federico Fernandez has a calf strain that will rule him out of the visit of Palace. Jordi Amat should return to partner Ashley Williams in the heart of the Swans defence. No other injury concerns for Swansea.
Analysis and Predictions
Prediction for Swansea City – 9th
Swansea City were particularly poor at the end of last season. This had a lot to do with the poor form of Michu who failed to score since September of last year in the Premier League. They picked a bad time to do so as they found themselves in and out of the relegation zone but ultimately achieved survival.
With the start they have made this season and the current form of both Wilfried Bony and Gylfi Sigurdsson, they should not have any relegation fears this season. However, with the quality that Southampton and West Ham United have shown so far this season, I cannot see them qualifying for Europe but we should expect to see them up at the right end of the table come May.
- EPL Index prediction – home win
- Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson’s prediction – home win
- Who Scored prediction – home win
- My prediction – away win
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