An important survival battle will take place on Sunday as 17th-placed Swansea host 19th-placed Middlesbrough at the Liberty Stadium. Middlesbrough won the reverse fixture 3-0 in December, with Alvaro Negredo scoring a double. That was the first win for Boro against Swansea since 2009, the Swans have won three of the four direct meetings in between those victories for Middlesbrough.
Swansea climbed above the relegation zone after their revival in 2017, but they are not out of the woods yet. Hull City are just three points behind them, while Middlesbrough are five points behind the Swans but have a game in hand. Swansea have lost their last two matches, at Bournemouth and at Hull City, but they have won four of their last eight Premier League matches. Angel Rangel and Nathan Dyer are injured and will miss out, but Jefferson Montero could make his return from injury.
Middlesbrough have lost their last four matches in all competitions, including the 2-0 FA Cup defeat against Manchester City. Last time out they lost 3-1 at home against Manchester United and they have not won a Premier League match since December 17. In fact, their last Premier League victory was the 3-0 against Swansea. They did clinch a draw here and there, but they need to get a few wins very soon if they want to remain in the Premier League. Calum Chambers is injured and will not play on Sunday.
Probable line-ups:
Swansea: Fabianski - Naughton, Fernandez, Mawson, Olsson - Fer, Cork, Carroll - Routledge, Llorente, Sigurdsson
Middlesbrough: Valdes - Barragan, Bernardo, Gibson, Fabio - Roon, Clayton, Leadbitter - Downing, Negredo, Ramirez
My prediction: Swansea to win 1-0.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Swansea win - 1.95
Draw - 3.40
Middlesbrough win - 4.50
Your feedback
Please enter your comment.
Your comment is added.
Comments (1)
sharpe
03/31/17, 11:03:03 PM
Certainly a vital relegation game for both teams. I think the draw should be considered as a good result for Swansea but for Boro would be almost like a loss when...
Certainly a vital relegation game for both teams. I think the draw should be considered as a good result for Swansea but for Boro would be almost like a loss when we know when they are in the standings. The bottom three at the moment looks to be the teams which are the most likely to be relegated I think but Swansea are the next most likely team to be there so.. I don't know..maybe a draw..0-0.
Show more
