Swansea welcome Chelsea this Saturday having not won in any of their last three Premier League games. Swansea fell to a 4-2 defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, but they will be more confident that they can achieve a result in front of their home fans.
Now that Wilfried Bony has departed for Manchester City, the Swans will be looking to star midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson to supply the firepower needed to break down the Chelsea defence. Sigurdsson has scored four goals this season and assisted his teammates eight times – only bettered by his opposite man Cesc Fabregas with fourteen. Sigurdsson is ranked as the fourteenth best player in the Premier League according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Sigurdsson is 13/1 to score first with 888sport.
Lukas Fabianski will be the man between the sticks looking to keep Chelsea at bay. The stopper has made the fifth most saves in the division with 68, only eight behind first placed Rob Green. Fabianski has averaged 3.4 saves per game according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index and this is likely to increase this weekend against Chelsea.
Ki Sung-Yueng has been a regular for Swansea this season, and has racked up some impressive statistics in the process. Ki has made the most clearances of any midfielder in the division with 76. Mile Jedinak is the next closest midfielder with 65, according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.
Chelsea now find themselves two points clear of Manchester City at the top of the league and will be hoping to extend their lead to put the pressure on City, who play on Sunday against Arsenal. The EA SPORTS Player Performance Index ranks three Chelsea players among the top four in the division, along with Alexis Sanchez.
Diego Costa sits top of the rankings having scored a remarkable 15 goals in 18 games. The combative forward has scored with 34.1% of his shots and has recorded an incredible 72.7% of his shots on target, according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Costa is 3/1 to score with 888sport.
Ranked second in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index is winger Eden Hazard, who has had a scintillating first half to the season. He has scored eight goals and set up five goals for his teammates. Hazard is set to be the first player to hit a century for dribbles, as he currently has 99 successful dribbles to his name. Should he continue with his average of 4.71 dribbles per game, he should smash in to the hundreds this weekend at Swansea.
Cesc Fabregas completes the Chelsea trio and is ranked fourth in the overall EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Fabregas has stormed the assists chart, setting up 15 goals so far this season. This is largely down to the fact Fabregas has completed more passes in the opposition half than any other player (963). In addition to this, Fabregas has covered 273.4km over the course of the season, the most in the Premier League, averaging out at 13.7km per game.
Swansea City vs Chelsea Possible Lineups:
Swansea – Fabianski; Rangel, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor; Britton, Carroll; Routledge, Sigurdsson, Dyer; Gomis
Chelsea – Cech; Ivanovic, Terry, Cahill, Luis; Matic, Mikel; Hazard, Fabregas, Willian; Costa
Swansea City vs Chelsea Match Facts:
- Swansea are winless in three league matches since beating Aston Villa on Boxing Day (D2, L1).
- Garry Monk’s side have scored in each of their last 11 league games, their best-ever top flight run. They last fared better in any division with a 14-game scoring streak in League One seven seasons ago.
- Five of Swansea’s six home wins have come when they have kept a clean sheet.
- Chelsea have only earned five away points from the last 15 available (W1, D2, L2). They had previously taken 14 points out of a possible 18 from their opening six away matches (W4, D2).
- The Blues have conceded eight goals in their last four away games, half of their season total on the road.
- Each of the last six victories for Jose Mourinho’s side have come when they have kept a clean sheet.
Facts compiled from BBC
Swansea City vs Chelsea Prediction:
A 1-2 win for the away side.