Where’s It At?
It’s in the South of Wales, Swansea’s Liberty Stadium. Landore, Swansea SA1 2FA, United Kingdom. The 20,750 seater multi-functional stadium, apart from being where the Swans roost, is also home to Ospreys’ rugby team. It also holds the distinction of being the very first Premier League ground in all of Wales, well ahead of their rivals, and cousins of the aviary variety, the Bluebirds of Cardiff City.
When’s It On?
It’s on Saturday, October 1st, 2016, at… don’t know how to break it to you, the kick-off is at 12.30pm. Despicably early. So, make sure you set those alarm clocks on time if you have the Saturday off to be able to make it. If you’re in office for the daily grind of the 9 to 5, good luck reaching the pub on time, Forrest.
Should I Bring My Brolly?
It’d be best you do. There are heavy showers predicted, at 10 am on Saturday, and the drizzles may roll onto for the rest of the afternoon. The BBC certainly thinks there may be some dense cloud cover, and an off chance of thundery bursts. In any case, you may be in for some wet prawn sandwiches. Errgh. Bring your ‘kerchief along, the humidity will be at a soaring 80%, with very little wind blowing in for comfort.
It’s On The Telly, Yeah?
Yes, good sir. The painfully early kick-off will be live on Sky Sports 2. Alternatively, if you’re stuck in the middle of something with a bad reception for the radio, there’s always T4O’s football app that will give you LIVE TEXT Commentary.
The Form Book
Swansea City
[GP6, W1, D1, L4]
Liverpool FC
[GP6, W4, D1, L1]
In the last three Premier League fixtures, the usual suspect, Gylfi Sigurdsson scored a consolation goal for the Swans as Manchester City bounced to a 1-3 romp at the Liberty. Prior to that, they felt hard done by a credible, yet narrow 1-0 defeat away to Southampton. 11th of September could have been the day that Francesco Guidolin’s side could have kicked on with their impressive 2-2 draw with Chelsea, but weren’t able to.
For Liverpool, their last 3 fixtures saw them trounce the Tigers 5-1, hoodwink Conte’s Chelsea, and romp the defending Champions 4-1.
What To Expect
Expect Swansea to come out in a furious fit to secure three points, with an attacking 4-1-4-1. Liverpool, who themselves, are no strangers to upsets, will be looking to avoid a potential slip up, starting their best players in order to maintain their momentum. Fernando Llorente and Leroy Fer may get a lot of joy in the Liverpool defence, which has shown an apparent weakness to defending second balls, if there is a steady supply chain coming in from midfield. Consequently, Liverpool will look to a resurgent Phil Coutinho and his accomplice, Bob Firmino to carve up opportunities from the edge of the box.
Prediction
2-2
Formations
Swansea [4-1-4-1], Liverpool [4-2-1-3]
