Swansea’s top 10 push has suffered a major blow as the team could only get one point from their last four fixtures, meaning a victory over Southampton is a must if the Swans are to remain in the top half of the standings. The Saints ended a three-match winning streak as they were held to a 1-1 draw by West Ham, but they, nonetheless, arrive at Liberty Stadium brimming with confidence.

Swansea ready for final push

There is no doubt Swansea are enjoying the best season in club’s long history, with the Capitol One Cup title a huge success for everyone at the club. However, the Swans are still very motivated to achieve a first ever top table finish in the Premier League and it seems they are well positioned to do so. The three-match losing run was more a result of the difficult fixture list than anything else, with the 2-2 draw at Norwich proving the Swans are slowly returning to the right track. Michael Laudrup’s side will relish the opportunity to test their skills against a team that have a very similar approach, rather than being involved in a physical battle with the likes of Stoke, West Ham or Newcastle. Prior to the back to back home defeats to Arsenal and Tottenham, Swansea had been on an eight-match unbeaten run at home, and this may be an opportunity to return to winning ways at Liberty Stadium. With the hosts determined to get their top 10 bid back on track, the odds are they will attack their opponents from the off, which should make for a highly entertaining encounter.

Neil Taylor has resumed full training, but is unlikely to feature, whereas Angel Rangel and Pablo Hernandez are pushing for starting places.

Top 10 in with a shout

It took Nigel Adkins quite a while to prove the doubters wrong and show that this Southampton side have enough quality to escape the drop, but just as he started to do it, the boss was replaced by Mauricio Pochettino. While many criticized the decision at first, they soon had no choice but to congratulate the Argentine coach for turning Southampton into a genuine top table side. The Saints not only escaped the danger zone thanks to a run of excellent performances, but also came on the verge of top 10 positions. While the team have been absolutely brilliant at St Mary’s, beating the likes of City, Liverpool and Chelsea there, they have been showing a lot of promise on the travels as well, having picked up 10 points from last 8 away games, scoring no less than 13 goals in the process. This is enough to suggest that Southampton have reason for optimism ahead of the trip to Swansea, especially as a number of important players return to the side. I have no doubts the Saints are going to adopt a positive approach in an attempt to win at Liberty Stadium, although we are yet to see whether they have what it takes to win their second successive away fixture.

Luke Shaw, Jason Puncheon and Jay Rodriguez are back to the side, but Guly do Prado and Kelvin Davis both miss out.

Verdict

With both sides under no pressure but very motivated to edge closer to a top ten finish, there is every chance we are going to see an end to end game at Liberty Stadium. The sides’ attacking qualities should come to the fore in an entertaining match, and I certainly expect to see goals galore in Swansea.

Top pick: Over 2.5 goals   1.80 (4/5) @ BetVictor

Alternative pick 1: Both teams to score   1.67 (2/3) @ 888sport

Alternative pick 2: Over 3.5 goals   3.00 (2/1) @ Sportingbet

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