Football Results

This is the first out of two matches between teams positioned near the drop zone in the 28th round of English Premier League. However, the Welsh have excellent 10-game unbeaten streak, while Brighton won three and drew two matches in the meantime. Let’s add that their head-to-head played last autumn in Swansea had ended as Brighton’s victory of 1-0.

Brighton

That was one of rare away victories for Brighton in their first returnee season in the English Premier League, as they won vast majority of their 28 points in front of their fans. Brighton won West Ham 3-1 in their last home match, while last weekend they won by the same result lower-division Coventry in the round of 16 of the FA Cup.

In the meantime they drew last two away matches in the league, with Southampton and Stoke, and right now they have two points more than teams in the drop zone. Of course, such small advantage cannot make them safe, as each new mishap could again put them in very difficult situation. It means that their main objective in match with direct competitor in the survival race will be to not lose. Let’s add that due to injuries currently out of action only reserve goalkeeper Krul, midfielder Sidwell and forward Skalak.

Probable lineups Brighton: Ryan – Schelotto, Duffy, Dunk, Bong – Knockaert, Stephens, Propper, Izquierdo – Gross – Murray

Swansea

The guests from Wales are in the best shape since the season started ahead of league match with Brighton, given their excellent 10-game unbeaten streak of five wins and five draws. True, half of those 10 matches were played in the FA Cup, where they struggled and needed replay matches to eliminate Wolverhampton and Notts County. Swansea drew in the FA Cup round of 16 with Sheffield Wednesday 0-0 last weekend and consequently it will face them again in just three days.

On the other hand, Swansea won three home matches in a row (against Liverpool, Arsenal and Burnley) and drew away with Leicester, which all together allowed them to finally escape the drop zone, although Swansea has just one point more than 18th-placed Southampton. Right because of that manager Carvalhal has stated that he will first and foremost try to avoid losing to Brighton, especially as he cannot count on injured defender Rangel, midfielders Fer, Sanches and Britton, and forward Bony, while not fully recovered stopper Mawson is questionable for this match.

Probable lineups Swansea: Fabianski – Naughton, van der Hoorn, Fernandez, Bartley, Olsson – Dyer, Carroll, Ki Sung-Yong, Clucas – J. Ayew

Verdict:

Given that this is match between teams that still struggle to survive and are also know to play more defensive football, than it is the most realistic to expect from their Saturday’s match in Brighton to be hard and not overly efficient.

Pick:  under 2 goals 1.93 - 93/100 @1XBet