The first half between Swansea City and Hull City finished goalless, although Gylfi Sigurdsson did come the closest, his half volley from 20 yards tipped away by Eldin Jakupovic.
Hull City scored their first goal through Shaun Maloney, after Curtis Davies flicked on a corner, the Scot then bundled the ball in at the far post. Abel Hernandez then sealed the win, after Maloney squared the ball to the striker in added time to round off the scoreline.
Swansea need a fit Gylfi Sigurdsson in this side
The Icelandic international is the only player in the Swansea team that regularly creates chances. He was missed in the opening day win over Burnley and perhaps wasn’t on his best form today, but it’s to be expected after being given a lengthy rest following his European Championships campaign. Swansea were poor in the final third and it’s no surprise that when this man isn’t in form, neither is the team.
Can Montero and Barrow play in the same side?
Jefferson Montero and Modou Barrow are definitely Swansea’s two best wingers, going forward at least. Francesco Guidolin seems reluctant to pair the two together, seemingly because he doesn’t trust their workrate when Swansea are out of possession. If they can’t play together another winger has to come in though, because Wayne Routledge shouldn’t be a starter anymore. He doesn’t offer a lot going forward anymore, and he isn’t a huge amount better defensively than Barrow or Montero. The pair played together for about 20 minutes and play ran a little stagnate, so perhaps Guidolin is right to not play them.
Do Swansea need to sign a first-choice centre-back?
Absolutely. The Fernandez-Amat experiment hasn’t conceded a goal yet, but that’s down to the quality (or lack thereof) from their opponents. Hernandez caused the pair problems regularly, and Jordi Amat particularly didn’t look comfortable at all today.
Is Llorente the answer?
He is a tidy player, can hold the ball up very well which is of great use for Swansea. However, he doesn’t seem like a goalscorer. It seems that when Borja Baston is fit, he’ll be the starting striker, and rightly so. Fernando Llorente isn’t able to create a shot for himself, and that’s definitely needed when his supporting cast isn’t performing.
The upcoming fixtures
Swansea really needed to win today, as their next six league games are against Leicester, Chelsea, Southampton, Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal. Needless to say Swansea won’t be picking up many points during this spell, meaning the loss today will hurt even more.