Swansea City and Tottenham Hotspur will both be looking to bounce back from disappointing recent results with a win at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday, with both sides looking to climb up towards the top four. The hosts suffered a disappointing defeat at an Andy Carroll-inspired West Ham last weekend, while Spurs followed a goalless draw with Crystal Palace with a Europa League defeat at Besiktas.
Gerhard Tremmel is likely to be given the nod to start in goal for Swansea after Lukasz Fabianski was suspended following his red card last week, while Neil Taylor returns from a one-match suspension of his own. Midfielder Tom Carroll, on loan in Wales from Spurs, is ineligible. Argentina defender Federico Fernandez could be in line to return having been ruled out for the past six weeks with a calf problem.
Emmanuel Adebayor has been given leave for personal reasons and so Mauricio Pochettino will choose between Roberto Soldado and Harry Kane to start up front. The Argentine manager has some decisions to make after some impressive performances from fringe players in the Europa League, while England full-back Kyle Walker could make his long-awaited return from an abdominal injury sustained last season.
Spurs are in fact unbeaten against the Swans in the last seven meetings in all competitions, and Swansea haven't recorded a victory over the North London side since a 1-0 win in the League Cup - in September 1991. However, they do have the considerable goalscoring talent of Wilfried Bony to call on this time around; his 19 goals in 2014 is more than any other player has managed in the Premier League this calendar year.
Swansea manager Garry Monk is looking for a positive reaction from his squad after their disappointing result at Upton Park last weekend. “It was the first time that we didn’t reach the levels we’ve set ourselves this season,” the Swans boss reflected upon that defeat. “We need to react this weekend, put on a positive performance and put to bed last weekend’s display.
However, former Swan Ben Davies insists that the emotion of returning to his old club in a Spurs shirt will not overwhelm him. “I know a lot of people there and it will be a bit surreal," he said. "It’s a big day, [but] you have to take the sentiment out of it. It’s an important game for us and we’d love to get the win." Conversely, Swansea midfielder Gylfi Sigurðsson will face Spurs for the first time having returned to Wales from London this summer.
Yorkshireman Robert Madley will referee this encounter, having shown 31 yellow and four red cards in his nine Premier League matches so far this season. This match will be the final fixture of the Premier League weekend, kicking off at 1600GMT on Sunday afternoon. We'll have live coverage, analysis and reaction from all the weekend's football, so stay right here on VAVEL.