Swansea City have been handed a tough tie in the 3rd round of the EFL Cup where they will have to face the marauding Pep Guardiola and his troops. The Swans have had a mixed start to the season which has soured even more after a defeat at the hands of Southampton. They began with a win on the opening day against Burnley but have since failed to build any sort of momentum losing to Hull City and Leicester City in consecutive matches and would have been gutted to lose both. They rode their luck in the match against Chelsea and were fortunate to secure a 2-2 draw. But the momentum was lost once again as they slumped to a 1-0 loss against Southampton yesterday.
With a meagre 4 points from 5 matches, they sit 15th place and a look at their fixtures over the next month illustrates the massive mountain they have to climb in order to stay away from the relegation spots. Successive matches against Manchester City are followed by fixtures against Liverpool and Arsenal in what will be a nightmare month for them.
They have to shift focus to the EFL tie on Wednesday against the Sky Blues who are in imperious form this season. Francesco Guidolin’s approach will be interesting to see with his task made tougher by the fixture list. Whether he retains a number of his first team stars or keeps them fresh for the tie against the same opponents next week will be a talking point in the build-up to the match.
HERE IS T40’s PREDICTED SWANSEA CITY LINE-UP VS MANCHESTER CITY (4-2-3-1)
DEFENCE
Nordfelt might get another League Cup game with Fabianski kept fresh for the Premier League game. Neil Taylor is in line to appear at left-back as he slowly builds up his match fitness. The centre-back pairing is likely to be Mike Van der Hoorn and Federico Fernandez with Naughton at right-back.
MIDFIELD
Jay Fulton and Leon Britton are likely to form the midfield pivot and will be in for a busy day in midfield. Gylfi Sigurdsson is in line for a rest and Ki might get a game in the No.10 position in place of him.
ATTACK
Wayne Routledge and Jefferson Montero are expected to take up the flank roles and get some minutes under their belt. They will look to exploit the ageing full-backs of City with their pace and trickery. Guidolin might give Borja Baston a start as the club record signing gets ready to take on the League.
