Swansea City vs Aston Villa - Match Preview

Brendan Rodgers refused to blame the culprit that gifted United their only goal of the game, Angel Rangel, insisting that their stylish style of play will create these opportunities for teams, so there's no doubt that the team will be putting on another passing masterclass for the TV cameras again. The defeat to Manchester United marked two firsts for Swansea on last Saturday's 5.30 kick off, their first defeat at home and their first goal scored by an opposition player, Danny Graham's own goal withstanding. A valiant effort for a team who are in their debut season in the Premier League. However, the statistic that reveals Aston Villa have yet to win away from home this season, picking up 4 points from 6 games, will come as pure delight to the Swans, who have started making a habit of fantastic home form. Another key factor for Swansea is the probable return of Joe Allen. The Welsh international was brought on at half time last week after failing a late fitness test but the introduction of the ever improving 21-year old from the start will no doubt galvanize the team. For Villa, they'll be looking to bounce back from a two-nil defeat to Tottenham last weekend and if the team leave South Wales without at least a point, the pressure may be back on manager Alex McLeish. Despite rejuvenating Gabriel Agbonlahor's form with his excellent partnership with fellow front man Darren Bent, it's been an uphill battle for McLeish to win over the fans since his short move from Birmingham to Aston Villa over the summer. Villa often start games extremely well, with Everton being the only exception to the rule that whenever they've dropped points, it's been from a winning position. However their opponents today are joint lowest scorers in the division alongside West Brom and Wigan on 12 goals. So whether McLeish opts for a "smash and grab" tactic today by surging forward to grab an early goal and sitting back, hoping that statistics play their way and Swansea fail to reply, could prove fruitful for him - it certainly worked for Manchester United. The key players for the Villa lie within their two in-form England international forwards, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Darren Bent. Their chemistry together, lightning pace and good positioning have become a threat for many teams and will no doubt be hoping to test the excellent Michel Vorm today.

Team News

Steven Caulker (knee) remains a doubt after his longer than anticipated time on the sidelines. The England U21 international was originally lined up to return last week against Manchester United but a setback has ruled him out for at least the extra week. Alan Tate (broken leg) and Ferrie Bodde (knee) remain the two long term casualties for Swansea. However the big news for Swansea is the probable return of Joe Allen who has fully recovered from his injury that forced him into only 45 minutes last week. Aston Villa will have to give captain Stiliyan Petrov (hamstring) a late fitness test to ensure he can play any part in the game and fellow midfielder Chris Herd also remains doubtful with a calf injury. Nathan Delfouneso (hamstring) and Eric Lichaj (hip) are both ruled out through injury for Villa. Neither team have any suspensions hindering their squad selection today.

Line-ups from;

Swansea (from): Vorm, Williams, Taylor, Caulker, Britton, Orlandi, Sinclair, Dyer, Dobbie, Routledge, Monk, Cotterill, Lita, Moore, Bessone, Moreira, Rangel, Allen, Tremmel, Agustien, Gower, Butler, Richards, Lucas, Walsh, Alfei, Moras. Aston Villa (from): Given, Hutton, Warnock, Dunne, Collins, Ireland, Jenas, Bent, N'Zogbia, Agbonlahor, Albrighton, Delph, Heskey, Petrov, Clark, Guzan, Cuéllar, Bannan, Weimann, Herd, Marshall, Johnson, Burke, Parish. Italics indicate doubtful. Prediction: 2 - 0 - Swansea to will be looking not to be breached at the back again and the return of Joe Allen from the start will have a positive effect on the forwards in front of him. Pressure back on for McLeish?