Arsenal will face their bogey team this season, when
travel to the Liberty Stadium to face Swansea City. The Swans recorded a
shocking but well-deserved 2-0 win in the reverse fixture at the
Emirates.
Where to Watch Live
Kick-off is set for 3pm GMT. Highlights are on BBC One and BBC One HD's Match of the Day, at 10.30pm GMT.
Overview
The euphoria of winning the Capital One Cup and knowing they will play European football next season may have gotten to Michael Laudrup's men.
The Swans played well to beat Newcastle United 1-0 after the thumping they gave Bradford City but a 1-2 defeat at Loftus Road last weekend may be a problem, particularly if one of either Fulham, Stoke City or West Ham United win this weekend and the Swans don't. Laudrup is presently ninth in the league, seven points ahead of the aforementioned trio.
Overall, Swansea have three of their last five games, which is a decent record and the fact they've scored 11 goals in those five games (across all competitions) is good news. But they've also conceded eight times and that will worry their Danish boss.
Swansea face a tough double-header against north London rivals Arsenal and Spurs over the next fortnight (with the international break in between) and good results from these games should confirm a top ten place this season.
The Gunners may have recovered some pride in the 2-0 defeat of Bayern Munich in a midweek Champions League game but, as is rapidly becoming the case with them, it was too little too late. The magnitude of the 1-3 home defeat to Jupp Heynckes' side in the first leg, at the Emirates, means Arsene Wenger will end yet another season without a trophy.
The win over the Bundesliga leaders should give the players some confidence though, hopefully enough to record a first league win of March. Overall, Arsenal have won three of the last five league games but only two of the last five in all competitions, including the humiliating 0-1 defeat to Championship side Blackburn in the FA Cup.Wenger is fifth in the league for now and trails Chelsea and Spurs by five and seven points respectively. The good news, at least in the race for Champions League football, is he has a game in hand over Andre Villas-Boas' men.
Team Form
Swansea City
- Last Five (all competitions, most recent first): L W W L W
- Last Result: West Bromwich Albion 2 - 1 Swansea City
- Last Five (all competitions, most recent first): W L W L L
- Last Result: Bayern Munich 0 - 2 Arsenal
Team News
Centre-back Chico Flores (ankle) is unavailable. Welsh international Neil Taylor may also not be fit to play as he has yet to regain match fitness. Midfielder Kemy Agustien (thigh) has also been ruled out.
Probable Line-Up: Vorm; Rangel, Williams, Monk, Davies; Britton, Sung-Yong Ki; Routledge, de Guzman, Hernandez; Michu
Wenger is without midfielder Jack Wilshere (ankle), right-back Bacary Sagna (knee) and possibly even striker Lukas Podolski (ankle). Left-back Nacho Monreal is available though, after missing the Bayern Munich win because he was cup-tied. Polish goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski will likely be No 1 again.
Probable Line-Up: Fabianski; Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal; Arteta, Ramsey; Walcott, Rosicky, Cazorla; Giroud
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