Responsible for overthrowing the last undefeated 2017/2018 Premier League season, Liverpool will close on Monday, January 22, the twenty-fourth round of the English Premier League. After facing the leader of the tournament, will face the team at the other end of the standings, Swansea. The match will be held at Liberty Stadium in Swansea, Wales, starting at 18h (GMT).
Swansea’s recent performance
The Welsh are in the twentieth (final) placing of the English Championship. After 23 games they managed to accumulate only 17 (four wins, five draws and 14 losses). There is not much doubt as to what the club’s main problem is. The attack has been unable to have sufficient production. It is the worst of the Premier League with 14 goals scored.
The defense, which has an acceptable rating of 35 goals conceded, has not been sufficient to compensate for this deficiency. The signing of the Portuguese coach Carlos Carvalhal managed to increase the hopes of the fans.
With him, the team managed to pass three games without losing, an unprecedented fact of the season. However, this had little effect in the fight against relegation, since only one match was for the Premier League. The other two were worth the third round of the FA Cup. After drawing a goalless draw with Wolves, Swansea provoked a replay and clinched the field goal by scoring 2-1 and advancing to the fourth round.
To try to improve the situation in the English Championship, Carvalhal will have to overcome some problems of injury. Defenders Angel Rangel (three matches in English Championship 2017/2018, no goal) and Mike van der Hoorn (11 matches, no goal) are in the process of injury recovery; the midfielder Renato Sanches (12 games, no goal); and striker Tammy Abraham (20 games, four goals).
The current form of Liverpool
By knocking down Manchester City’s unbeaten record by scoring 4 to 3 on Sunday, January 14, Liverpool took third place in the Premier League with 47 points (13 wins, eight draws and two losses).
He reached the mark of five wins in a row and extended his invincibility sequence to 18. Over the period, started on October 28, he won 13 matches and drew five games. He thus secured his place in the Round of 16 of the European Champions League and his place in the fourth round of the FA Cup. The guarantee of survival in this tournament still had the bonus of eliminating Everton, their biggest rival, who took 2 to 1 at Anfield Road.
Not even the transfer of Brazilian midfielder Philippe Coutinho managed to shake the favorable mood at Liverpool, which has four doubts for the match on Monday. Defenders Alberto Moreno (12 games in the English Championship 2017/2018, without a goal) and Virgil van Dirjk (still without Premier League appearances for the club) are in the medical department; midfielder Jordan Henderson (16 games, one goal) and striker Daniel Sturridge (nine games, two goals).
History of the bouts between Swansea and Liverpool
The last four meetings between the teams indicated two victories for each side. In the first round of the current season of the Premier League, Liverpool thrashed by 5 to 0. The relationship of confrontation between them is short. It has only 15 matches. There were eight victories of the reds, four of Welsh and three draws.
With the attack on and defense improving, Liverpool signaled it could make a second half of the season far superior to the first. It is, therefore, the best choice of guess for the confrontation of this Monday in Wales. It has a price of 1.30 in Bet365. Draw shows a return of 5.25. Success of the Welsh pays 9.50 for each real bet. Prices in effect at 16:58 on 1/18/2018.