Liverpool travel to South Wales to take on Swansea City in Monday night's Barclays' Premier League action this weekend, looking to keep up with their fellow Champions League chasing opponents at the top of the table.
Match Facts:
Swansea have only lost three home matches this season, and 25 of their 40 points have come at the Liberty Stadium.
Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool are in formidable form, they’re unbeaten in their last 12 league games (W9, D3). They are the only unbeaten team left in the Premier League in 2015.
Swansea have beaten Liverpool only once in seven matches (D3, L3) since winning promotion to the Premier League in 2011.
Team News:
Hosts Swansea City received a boost as Tom Carroll is available having had to sit out of the match against parent club Tottenham last time out because of the Premier League Regulations.
Bafétimbi Gomis is in full training and should be in line to start having feinted early on against Spurs sparking concern after he feinted three times in East France during his time at Lyon.
There is only one absentee for Garry Monk is defender Kyle Bartley who will miss the visit from the Scousers through knee injury.
For the Reds, Martin Skrtel was a doubt ahead of the game after he suffered a head injury early on against Blackburn but he is expected to start at centre back.
French defender Mamadou Sakho is expected to return to the line up ahead of Summer signing Dejan Lovren who is starting to find his feet in the North-West following his big money move from Southampton.
Midfielder Joe Allen and captain Steven Gerrard remain doubtful ahead of the trip to South Wales but the duo are expected to be in the squad for the match.
However, Brendan Rodgers will be without four players including goalkeeper Brad Jones, Lucas Leiva and youngster Jordon Ibe who are all injured and John Flanagan returned to training but will sit out this game due to lack of match fitness.
Form:
The Swans’ recent form has been very shaky but Garry Monk has salvaged some crucial points and wins. Most notably the 2-1 win over Manchester United in February thanks to former Liverpool player, Jonjo Shelvey scoring the winner. In their last six, Swansea have won three games against Southampton, Manchester United and Burnley helping move the Welsh side up to ninth. However, in those six games Swansea have lost two and drew just the once coming against Sunderland at the Liberty Stadium.
For Brendan Rodgers’ side the surge for top four is gathering momentum. Just two points have been dropped in their last six Premier League games. The last defeat Liverpool suffered was back in Mid-December to Manchester United whom they host next week, since that humiliating defeat Liverpool have yet to lose a game. In those last six games, its saw a new lease of life for Belgian ‘keeper Simon Mignolet who has been a standout performer in 2015 for the Reds, just conceding three goals in their last six. Liverpool’s biggest boost came at the start of the month where they beat title challengers Manchester City 2-1 thanks to two outstanding efforts from Jordan Henderson and Philippe Coutinho.
Recent Meetings:
There’s a daunting stat lingering over Liverpool as they play Swansea. In their last thirteen league meetings in South Wales, Liverpool have won just twice. (Losing seven times and drawing four times)
In the corresponding fixture, it was an entertaining draw on a mild September Evening, which finished 2-2. Jonjo Shelvey grabbed the headlines scoring after two minutes and then gifting Daniel Sturridge the equaliser. Liverpool then took the lead through Victor Moses but Spanish striker Michu salvaged a draw for the Swans just after the hour mark to snatch a draw and break a memorable win for Brendan Rodgers at his former club.
What they’re saying
Garry Monk (Swansea Manager): [On Joe Allen] "It's tough going from Swansea to Liverpool. It's not an easy transition. But it's now clicked for him. He's been fantastic recently and really bossed games.
"I saw his progression here into the first team.
"He always looked like he'd be a top player. He's also a fantastic lad - and you want people like that to have great careers and achieve things."
[On Counter-part and former manager Brendan Rodgers]: "He can manage at the top, for sure.
"He's got the knowledge, know-how and capabilities in man-management. He's got the package to do it at the elite of Europe.
"Whether that's an ambition he has at Liverpool or it is an ambition to be at the really elite, I don't know.
"But I'm sure he wants to take Liverpool to those heights again."
“I've spoken to him about it and the pressure at the bigger clubs is constant but I think he handles it very well," said Monk.
"Transition's never easy, especially after a fantastic season, and just missing out on that title will have knocked the confidence of the players initially.
“All credit to Brendan for having the bravery to change it to what players probably weren't used to. He did it at a period where it could have been a risk but it's paid dividends."
Brendan Rodgers (Liverpool Manager):
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"Our last performance against Blackburn was at the end of a real tough period of games.
"I've seen all the numbers and all the statistics on it and, physically, it was the lowest we have been for this season. Now we're re-energised and refreshed mentally and physically.
"We go into a run of games now, starting with Swansea, and we feel we can go in and push on in terms of our level of performance again. We know it will be tough.
"The players have been brilliant this week. They're looking really sharp, looking really confident and we just want to continue with our sequence of performances and good results."
He added: "I think it's going to be very tight, of course. A number of the teams have been up there for a lot of the season. We've rejoined the race for that in the last three months. We're really looking forward to these remaining games now. Everything counts in the games."
