Swansea City will entertain Burnley at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday in what is set to be a crucial contest for the Swans in their bid to save themselves from suffering the agony of relegation to the English Championship at the end of the season. The Swans come into this game in terrific form having secured hard-fought home victories against Liverpool and Arsenal respectively while also booking their place into the fifth round of the FA Cup following their 8-1 mauling of Notts County in midweek. Carlos Carvalhal has totally transformed the club’s fortunes for the better since his arrival a few weeks back and will hope that his players can continue to make progress and get themselves out of relegation trouble in the coming weeks.
The recent history of the fixture makes a grim reading for the visitors as the Welsh club has won 4 of their last five meetings with the Clarets. Carvalhal is expected to opt for a 5-4-1 formation and may bring back Tammy Abraham to his starting eleven following his goal-scoring exploits in midweek.
5-4-1 Swansea City Predicted Lineup To Face Burnley
Defence
Lukasz Fabianski is expected to retain his place in goal for the Swans after conceding a goal in each of his last two outings for the Welsh club in the Premier League.
The back five is likely to include Alfie Mawson, Federico Fernandez and Mike van der Hoorn as central defenders while Kyle Naughton and Martin Olsson take up the full-back roles.
The Swans’ defence has conceded 37 goals in 26 Premier League matches so far this season. However, Carlos Carvalhal’s defenders have only conceded 3 goals in their last four league outings and the Portuguese boss will hope that his back five can keep it tight at the back once again when they face the Clarets on Saturday.
Midfield
Carlos Carvalhal is expected to choose Tom Carroll and Ki Sung-Yueng as his holding midfielders while Samuel Clucas will feature from the left flank and Jordan Ayew drops back to operate from the right side of the midfield. The match will be won and lost at the centre of the park and it will up to these four players to raise their games in an effort to stand toe to toe with the Burnley midfield.
Both Ayew and Clucas will be responsible to link up play in the opposition box and create some chances for their teammates to feed on.
Attack
Tammy Abraham could be handed a rare start up top for the Swans after scoring a brace in their 8-1 demolition of Notts County. The 20-year-old striker has shown a lot of promise but has failed to score consistently for the Welsh club which has limited his chances in the first-team. However, he will come into this clash full of confidence and might get his name on the scoresheet once again if he laces up against the Clarets defence on Saturday.
