Swansea City vs Arsenal - Match Preview

Thierry Henry as he pulls on the less familiar number 12 shirt for Arsenal on Sunday. Henry made the dream start to his return to North London by scoring the winning goal against in the FA Cup tie against Leeds last weekend and that performance could convince Arsene Wenger to start the enigmatic Frenchman alongside goal-machine Robin van Persie. Whilst Henry has given Wenger even further firepower up front, it is in defence where they are feeling the strain. A string of serious injuries and suspensions has ravaged the Arsenal back line to its bare minimum. Swansea will no doubt be looking to shut down the Henry hype machine as they intend to continue their impressive run of form and take advantage of Arsenal's loosely threaded defence. With a very impressive performance against title hopefuls Tottenham followed by successive away wins at Aston Villa in the league and Barnsley in the FA Cup, spirits are high at the Liberty Stadium. Along with the good results, Brendan Rodgers has also buoyed the dressing room with a succession of new signings. Gylfi Sigurdsson, Darnel Situ and Rory Donnelly have all joined the ranks for the Swans with Chelsea's Josh McEachran also signing in the next few days in a very busy start to the transfer window. The last time these two teams met it was an uncharacteristic error by Michel Vorm which gifted Arsenal a victory in a tight 1-0 win at the Emirates. The scoreline may remain to be tight in the return fixture considering Swansea's excellent home defence record but it could be the best opportunity Brendan Rodgers has to claim a huge scalp in the league. The lack of a real full back for Arsenal due to their defensive injury crisis, with the promising Ignasi Miquel and the returning Johan Djourou masquerading on the left and right, could play right into the home team's hands. Swansea's main offensive options normally originate from the wing positions with Nathan Dyer, Scott Sinclair and Wayne Routledge putting in excellent performances all season. Their combination of pace, trickery and fleet footedness could be the turning point for the Swans' game plan. As for the visitors, Robin van Persie is having the time of his life in front of goal this season and with Henry waiting in the wings to replace van Persie, it's a formidable force in attack that could easily cause Swansea's defensive record some worries.

Team News

In respect of the injury list, things couldn't been further apart for the two teams. Swansea have no new injury concerns asides from their two long term absentees of Alan Tate (broken leg) and Ferrie Bodde (knee) however both players made a promising 45 minute return in a reserve game against Hereford a few days ago. Both David Cotterill and Vangelis Moras have left the club after mutual consent and contract expiry respectively. Brendan Rodgers should recall some of his key players who were missing from the 4-2 victory over Barnsley in the FA Cup last weekend too. Michel Vorm is expected to return in goal, whilst Steven Caulker, Joe Allen and possibly new signing Gylfi Sigurdsson could start the return to the starting XI too. Arsenal are missing no less than 11 players due to injury and international duties. The defensive crisis caused by injuries to Francis Coquelin (hamstring), Thomas Vermaelen (calf), Andre Santos (ankle), Carl Jenkinson (fracture), Kieran Gibbs (hernia) and Bacary Sagna (broken leg) centralise the key problem for Arsenal's back line at the moment. In addition to that, there are also existing injuries to Jack Wilshere (ankle), Abou Diaby (hamstring) and Lukasz Fabianski (knee) are still present, plus Marouane Chamakh and Gervinho are both absent due to duty with their country for the African Cup of Nations. And finally, to add to Wenger's woes, Per Mertesacker (illness) and Tomas Rosicky (knee) will both face late fitness tests for the visit to South Wales.

Line-ups from;

Swansea (from): Vorm, Williams, Taylor, Caulker, Britton, Orlandi, Graham, Sinclair, Dyer, Dobbie, Routledge, Monk, Lita, Moore, Bessone, Moreira, Rangel, Situ, Allen, Tremmel, Agustien, Gower, Butler, Richards, Lucas, Davies, Walsh, Alfei, Smith, Edwards, March, R. Donnelly, Sigurdsson. Probable line-up: Vorm, Taylor, Williams, Caulker, Rangel, Britton, Allen, Sigurdsson, Dyer, Routledge, Graham. Arsenal (from): Almunia, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Rosicky, Arteta, Park, van Persie, Henry, Szczesny, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey, Song, Squillaci, Djourou, Arshavin, Benayoun, Afobe, Miyaichi, Eastmond, Miquel, Yennaris. Probable line-up: Szczesny, Djourou, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Miquel, Song, Arteta, Ramsey, Arshavin, Walcott, van Persie Italics indicate doubtful. Prediction: 2 - 1 - Arsenal's defensive crisis is just the opening Swansea need to claim their first real scalp of the season and with the Jacks in good form, it could just happen on Sunday.