Swansea City will be gearing up to tackle another round of the approaching Manchester City storm after managing to minimalise the damage in the midweek EFL Cup loss to the same opponents. The Sky Blues will be able to call back most of their heavy hitters on Saturday after giving them time to recharge their batteries for the cup match. With a 10-match winning streak at stake for City, we take a brief look at the key battles in the match which are likely to have an impact on the outcome at the end of the 90 minutes.
KEVIN DE BRUYNE VS LEROY FER
Both the players have been the standout performers for their squads. The Belgian took time to get the wheels in motion but once he got hang of the nuances of the new position he was deployed in, there hasn’t been a better player than him in the League. He will be the chief attacking threat amongst a bevy of talented attacking players at their disposal.
Leroy Fer will be tasked with nullifying the impact of De Bruyne. His physicality and tendency to tackle hard will be useful if they come off in the match. He is incidentally the Swans’ highest goal scorer till now and his confidence will be high going into the fixture.
GYLFI SIGURDSSON VS FERNANDINHO
The Icelandic international has been their chief creative source for a long time now and will be buzzing in and around the penalty box for the Swans. Fernandinho has till now, succeeded admirably in the task of shielding the defence and will have to deal with Sigurdsson’s threat tomorrow.
If Sigurdsson manages to hold on to the ball and keep Fernandinho busy, it will be a big dent to Pep’s machinery of building out from the back. And this is something Francesco Guidolin will have briefed Sigurdsson on. But the current form the Brazilian is in right now, it will take a mighty effort from the Swansea man to come up trumps.
SERGIO AGUERO VS THE SWANSEA DEFENCE
As always when Sergio Aguero plays, he is likely to the thorn in the bush for the opposition defenders. But in the case of City, Aguero presents the biggest thorn in a bush filled with thorns(!) which exemplifies the magnitude of the task ahead of the Swans rearguard. Aguero will be fit and raring to go after a 3-match domestic suspension. The Argentine warmed up with a hat-trick in the Champions League while serving his ban and will be relishing the opportunity to make up for the lost time. The Swansea defence will be in for a torrid time if any one of them fails to perform at their highest level on Saturday.
