Prediction: Swansea City vs Manchester City

Having boosted their survival hopes with a 2-0 victory over Wigan Athletic, Swansea City enter this match high on confidence, hoping to put a dent into Manchester City’s title bid. The Citizens go into the game on the back of the disappointing Europa League defeat to Sporting and there are no doubts they will have to work hard for a win at Liberty Stadium.

Alongside Tottenham Hotspur, Swansea City remain one of the most exciting sides in England’s top flight and it is, therefore, not surprising that they are loved by many a neutral fan. The Swans are real refreshment for the English Premier League as they are a perfect proof that promoted sides can survive while playing attack-minded football. Brendan Rodger’s side have been scoring goals for fun throughout the season, even when facing the strongest teams in the league, and you can be sure they won’t be afraid to put their immense attacking potential to a good use against Manchester City. The Swans were very dangerous up front even in the first part of the season, but the arrival of Gylfi Sigurdsson has had a very positive effect on the squad, as the Icelander offers an excellent link between midfield and attack, and he has already scored 3 goals in just 7 appearances. With Danny Graham, Scott Sinclair and Wayne Routledge, in for suspended Nathan Dyer, also in the side, the Swans should have no problems keeping the rich vein of form.

Even if Manchester City are currently on a four-match winning run in the Premier League, they cannot afford to take the trip to Liberty Stadium lightly as this is likely to be one of their toughest away games this season. The Europa League defeat to Sporting Lisbon is likely to have negative effect on the players’ confidence, especially as the Lions are not really a force to be reckoned with in European football. The Citizens did dominate the proceedings in Portugal and missed several good opportunities to score, but they will have to play much better in order to beat Swansea and stay at the Premier League summit. Roberto Mancini faces a genuine defensive headache seeing that Vincent Kompany and Pablo Zabaleta are both unavailable, whereas Micah Richards and Joleon Lescott are injury doubts. The Italian is expected to make some changed to the side that faced Sporting, with Balotelli, Nasri, Johnson and Pizarro likely to return to the starting line-up.

Conclusion

Swansea returned to winning ways at just the right time and their in-your-face approach is likely to cause Manchester City all sorts of problems. The Citizens desperately need a victory here, meaning that we should see a very open game at Liberty Stadium. Therefore, backing both teams to score looks like the right thing to do.

Verdict: Both teams to score

Best Odds: 1.91 (10/11)

Bookmaker: BetVictor