3 Head-To-Head Battles That Will Decide Swansea Vs Newcastle United

3. Goalkeepers - Lukasz Fabianski (Swans) Vs Tim Krul (NUFC)

Goals are almost guaranteed in this one - in all eight Premier League meetings between the two sides there has only ever been a solitary 0-0 draw in the very first clash - and that means that both Lukasz Fabianski and Tim Krul are likely to see plenty of action at the Liberty Stadium. Fabianski has gone a long way since the days when he was nicknamed "Flap-ianski" at Arsenal and last season he was one of the most-consistent performers in the entire Premier League. During 37 appearances, the Pole conceded just 47 goals (an average of 1.27 per game) and kept an impressive 13 clean sheets. His Dutch counterpart meanwhile missed eight games through injury in 2014-15 and had arguably his worst campaign between the sticks for the Magpies. In 30 appearances he conceded 47 times (more than 1.5 per game) and he managed to record just seven clean sheets.

Intriguingly, given those statistics you would assume Krul made a greater number of saves, but you'd be wrong. Fabianski was called upon 137 times to stop goal-bound efforts last season, with Krul making just the 83 saves. Fabianski conceded less goals per game on average than Krul, but the Swansea stopper saved 3.7 shots every match - compared to the Dutchman's 2.7. Fabianski also got the better of Krul in the kicking department last season as well, with the Pole's passing far more accurate that the Dutchman's (55.8% to 47.8%). Strangely though, Krul averaged a far greater number of passes per game (31.2 to 28.1), suggesting he was trusted with possession far more than Fabianski. The raw data of these statistics is interesting in themselves, but Krul has started to look back to his best in 2015-16 and made a few excellent saves to ensure Southampton only left St James' Park with a point last weekend. Fabianski too performed well during the Swans' 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge, so both keepers head into this one in form. Verdict: Tim Krul - but only just This one is very much a coinflip as both keepers appear to be on top form. Krul had a torrid season last time out, like so many of his Magpies counterparts, but when he's at his peak he is an all-round better goalkeeper than Fabianski.