Swansea City v Palace

Liberty Stadium, Saturday 3.00pm

Story so far

After the last round of fixtures, Swansea now lie in seventh position in the league after their good form was halted with a defeat at Manchester City, in spite of taking an early lead through their talismanic striker Wilfried Bony.

Back on home turf this weekend, Swansea will be hoping for a repeat of the last time they played at the Liberty Stadium and saw off the challenge of Arsenal, and continue their ascent up the league.

Key to this will be in form striker Wilfried Bony, whose form is highlighted by the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. The Ivory Coast international has bagged himself five goals already this season and also grabbed an assist for good measure. He is not slouch when it comes to defending either, having won 75% of his tackles, but Swansea will want him focusing on his attacking prominence on the weekend. He is 28/25 to score anytime with 888sport.com.

In the middle of the park, Gylfi Sigurdsson has been in sensational form and the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index reveals just how good he has been. Whilst having scored twice already this season, he has created seven goals for Swansea already during his second spell with the club, and he will be looking to provide danger man Bony with plenty of chances come Saturday.

Also most impressive in the middle for Swansea has been Ki Sung-Yeung. The South Korean international has grabbed himself a goal but it is his distribution that has caught the eye of the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.

He has completed 91.9% of his passes, which is the best pass completion rate of any player in the Premier League this season. He will be looking to make things tick alongside Sigurdsson in the middle of the park for Swansea and dictate the play with his passing ability.

Crystal Palace will come into this fixture full of confidence after overturning a one-goal deficit to Liverpool, to win 3-1 at Selhurst Park last weekend. The win saw Palace jump out of the relegation zone and up into 15th place, but another win could see them climb as high as 11th.

Key to Palace getting their second win on the trot will be influential captain Mile Jedinak. The Australian skipper has been in sensational form as revealed by the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, having won a mammoth 77.4% of his 62 tackles this season. He has also made 31 clearances and racked up 43 interceptions, and will certainly look to give Palace a stronghold in the match.

Up top, Dwight Gayle is the man in form having scored against Liverpool at home for the second year running, doubling his tally for the season. The EA SPORTS Player Performance Index shows us that Gayle has actually scored with 50% of his shots so far this season, hitting the target with 75%. He will pose a threat to the Swans’ back line and is 33/10 to score anytime with 888sport.com.

Another man in form for Crystal Palace, is Yannick Bolasie, who struck the post with a wicked shot before Gayle tapped home. According to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, the Congo international has scored once this season and will certainly expect himself to add to that tally. It is, however, his four assists that he will be likely to add to and he will look to create further chances on Saturday for his teammates.

Team news

Defenders Damien Delaney is out after picking up a calf injury against Liverpool last weekend so Brede Hangeland will come in. Adrian Mariappa is also missing due to a knee injury suffered in training.

Swansea centre back Federico Fernandez (calf) is their only injury concern with manager Garry Monk having a fully-fit squad. Former Eagle Wayne Routledge is back in training after recovering from a groin injury.

Swansea: Fabianski, Rangel, Bartley, Williams, Taylor, Ki, Shelvey, Montero, Dyer, Sigurdsson, Bony, Tremmel, Amat, Carroll, Britton, Routledge, Gomis, Emnes, Barrow, Tiendalli, Richards, Fulton.

Palace: Speroni, Hennessey, Kelly, Fryers, Dann, Ward, Hangeland, Jedinak, Bannan, Ledley, McArthur, Bolasie, Thomas, Puncheon, Gayle, Campbell, Johnson, Doyle, Chamakh, Zaha.

Quotes

Roy Hodgson

"I think they are the best side I’ve seen this year. I saw them against Arsenal recently and they absolutely destroyed them. I know they won 2-1 but they were brilliant on the day, so I know how difficult it’s going to be for us.

"After the Liverpool game, though, we go there in good spirits. Garry is a nice bloke and he was a nice, genuine player.

"He knows the situation there and knows all the players, and because of that he’s fitted in well. He has signed one or two players who have really gelled superbly. Wilfried Bony is different class too and has fitted in to the Premier League."

Marouane Chamakh

"It has been hard for us. Against West Bromwich Albion, we drew after they scored in the last minute when we should have won.

"After the game we lost twice, against Sunderland and Manchester United, so it has been difficult. But we have worked hard and the international break came at a good time for us.

"We can go to Swansea happy because we worked hard against Liverpool and we have three points and we're not in the last three places.

"Swansea look good and play well. It's going to be hard for us but I'm feeling confident. I think if we have the same mentality as we did against Liverpool, we can do something there."

Joe Ledley

"It’s good to go back to Wales. They’re rivals and I will get a bit of stick from the fans, but I look forward to it and it’s going to be a good game. They’re doing brilliantly this season and hopefully we can match them and get some points.

"We have been unlucky in the last few games. We should have got a point against Manchester United and we were 2-0 up against West Brom and drew 2-2.

"To get a win like this [against Liverpool] is brilliant and I think we deserved it. I thought it was a fantastic game and we just need to continue this form now and pick up points."

Garry Monk

"We've seen it time and time again with these type of games, everyone expects you to win and they can cause you more problems.

"We just have to be focused on what we do in the game, how intense we are. If we set about the game with the right physicality, attitude and commitment, that will dictate what happens.

"Because of the start we've had, the points tally we are on, it's an opportunity for us to try to get ahead. It's not a target, but we want to get to 40 points as soon as we can.

"Coming out of that period of nine games, if we can have a realistic chance of being somewhere near to that then maybe you can look at other things. But until that period comes I cannot worry about anything else but the next three points."

---

Swansea City - league stats

Position	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
7th	12	5	3	4	18

Full league table

---

Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
02/03/2014	League	Swansea City	1 - 1	Crystal Palace
22/09/2013	League	Crystal Palace	0 - 2	Swansea City
15/01/2011	League	Swansea City	3 - 0	Crystal Palace
30/10/2010	League	Crystal Palace	0 - 3	Swansea City
09/02/2010	League	Crystal Palace	0 - 1	Swansea City

All time results

---

Last meeting

Swansea City 1-1 Palace

Sunday March 02 2014

Swansea City: Vorm, Davies, Williams (Amat, 70), Rangel, Chico (s/o 81), Routledge, Britton, Dyer, Hernandez (Canas, 22), de Guzman, Bony (Lita, 63)

Subs not used: Tremmel, Taylor, Emnes, Vazquez

Goals: de Guzman (25)

Bookings: Britton

Sent off: Chico (s/o 81)

Palace: Speroni, Dann, Ward, Parr (Thomas, 70), Delaney, Ledley, Dikgacoi, Bolasie, Jedinak, Ince (Murray, 45), Chamakh (Jerome, 32)

Subs not used: Hennessey, Gabbidon, Gayle, Bannan

Goals: Murray (pen 82)

Bookings: Jedinak, Dann, Jerome, Thomas

Prediction league

0 members have predicted for this game so far.

Make your prediction on this game

Away travel info

Click here