High-flying Swansea will look to crank up the pressure on under-fire Newcastle manager Alan Pardew when the two sides meet at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday. Swansea's recent form has been inconsistent following an impressive start to the season which sees them sitting in fifth place in the fledgling Premier League table, but will fancy their chances against a Newcastle side which is still without a league win and languishes with Burnley at the foot of the table.
With Angel Rangel suspended following a red card in last week's goalless draw with Sunderland and Dwight Tiendalli out with a groin injury, Welsh full-back Jazz Richards could make his first league start since 2011. Having come on as a substitute late in that game, Ivorian powerhouse Wilfried Bony is likely to start up front at the expense of Bafetimbi Gomis, who has yet to score in the league since his summer move from Lyon.
The visitors will have no new injury problems to contend with but Pardew will have to make a decision over the fitness of Papiss Cisse, who has been a substitute in the last two Premier League games following a knee injury. The Senegal forward contributed with two goals from the bench against Hull two weeks ago but Emmanuel Riviere's brace against Crystal Palace in the League Cup means that the Magpies may keep faith with the Frenchman. Ryan Taylor made an appearance in a behind-closed-doors midweek friendly, but he is still some way off a first-team start.
Newcastle have won only once against Swansea since Garry Monk's men sealed promotion to the Premier League in 2011, with the Swans prevailing in each of the last four encounters. Most recently, a stoppage time penalty from Wilfried Bony was enough to claim all three points at St James' Park at the end of last season and give Newcastle a fifth consecutive league defeat.
Swansea manager Monk has warned his side about complacency against their out-of-form opponents, suggesting that the Magpies have a better squad than their league position suggests. "It will be a very tough game," he said in a pre-match press conference. "Newcastle have a very good squad and good players. I know they are in a difficult moment, but I've been there as a player myself and when that happens you become a different animal. We are in a good place right now, but we can be even better than what we have been."
Meanwhile, Pardew has placed the onus on the younger members of his squad to play their part in taking the club up the Premier League table. "I do believe that in the squad we've got enough quality to get ourselves up this league," he told the club's website. "It is difficult for international players, it's difficult for them to settle in the environment that we find ourselves in and it's not their doing - it comes from the back end of last year and it's tough on them. We've produced some fantastic players through this football club while I've been here and we need to start producing a few more. It is difficult in this environment for them to flower but hopefully we can get a win and get the best out of those individuals."
With Swansea having won four of their last five games at the Liberty Stadium and Newcastle winning only one of their last fourteen anywhere, anything but a home win would constitute something of a shock. With kickoff set for 3pm, we'll have live text coverage of all the day's action right here on VAVEL.