Manchester United – Swansea City (Premier League)
Manchester United and Swansea City will measure forces this Sunday, at Old Trafford (Manchester), in a match for the 35th round of the Premier League. Manchester United arrive here after an attritional goalless draw against Manchester City, freezing their hopes of enter in the Premier League’s top 4. Swansea City arrive here after a 2-0 home win over Stoke City, putting an end to a six-match winless run.
Manchester United hold the 5th place in the Premier League table with 64 points, 1 point adrift of Manchester city, which comes from 17 victories, 13 draws and 3 defeats, with 50 goals scored and 24 conceded. This season, Mourinho’s side has been presenting a very good performance, since they have remained unbeaten in their last 24 matches in the Premier League.
In their last 5 official matches they have won 3 and drew 2. This sequence of results started with a 1-1 home draw against Everton, that was followed by a 0-3 away win against Sunderland, a 2-0 home win against Chelsea, a 0-2 away win against Burnley and a 0-0 away draw against Manchester City. Without conceding goals in their last 4 matches, defensively this is one of the best organized teams of the league.
At home in the league so far, the team has played 17 matches: won 7, drew 9, and only lost once. Usually this group led by Mourinho is stronger and has better performances at home. At their home ground so far they have scored 23 goals, conceding just 11 in the process.
Smalling, Jones, Mata, Rojo and Ibrahimovic are out due to inhjury. Paul Pogba is a questionable player.
Probable Lineup: De Gea – Valencia, Bailly, Blind, Shaw – Carrick, Herrera – Lingard, Rooney, Young – Martial.
Swansea City are sitting in the 18th place, in the relegation zone, in the Premier League table with 31 points, which comes from 9 victories, 4 draws and 21 defeats, with 39 goals scored and 68 conceded. But the standings can be deceiving: only 2 points separate them from Hull City, the 17th place in the league table. So, maintain the welsh side in the Premier League is Paul Clement´s main goal and after their win over Stoke City it can be possible.
In their last 5 official matches, in this competition, they have lost 3, drew 1 and win the other 1. This sequence of results started with a 0-0 home draw against Middlesbrough, that was followed by a 1-3 home loss against Tottenham, a 1-0 away loss against West Ham, a 1-0 away loss against Watford, and as mentioned before a 2-0 home win against Stoke City.
Away from home in the league so far, the team has been presenting some real bad performances. They have played 17 matches: drew 1, lost 13 and only win one, scoring 15 goals and conceding 35 in the process. In addition they have failed to score in their 3 last away matches.
Angel Rangel, Nathan Dyer and Wayne Routledge are out due to injury. Cork is fit to this match. Both Martin Olsson and Lerey Fer are questionable players.
Probable Lineup: Fabianski – Naughton, Fernández, Mawson, Kingsley – Cork, Britton, Carroll – Ayew, Llorente, Sigurdsson.
In this clash, City will be fighting for that top four place and Swansea will struggle to create chances, but at the moment, all points are needed to win the relegation fight.
