Date: Monday, December 9 Venue: Liberty Stadium Kick-Off: 20:00 Swansea City play host to Hull tonight in the first ever Premier League encounter between the two sides.
Team News
Swansea City manager Michael Laudrup has been buoyed by the news that both Michu and Wilfried Bony trained on Sunday following injury lay-offs. Michu has recovered from an ankle injury and Bony a hamstring strain and both should play tonight, though Alvaro Vazquez is out with a groin strain. Hull will welcome Curtis Davies back into the side following the completion of the defender's suspension against Arsenal mid-week. Davies will by vying for a place in the starting XI with James Chester, who made his return from injury on Wednesday. (bbc)
Key Stats
This will be the first ever Premier League meeting between these two sides. Victory over Newcastle last time out was just Swansea's second win in their last 12 home league games (W2, D5, L5). Hull are unbeaten in their last four league meetings with the Swans (W3, D1). No side have benefited from more own goals in the Premier League this season than Swansea City (4).
You know Michu and Wilfried Bony have been out of the team when the third-highest goalscorer for Swansea this season has been the own goal. Manager Michael Laudrup has definitely missed his two talismen, with Newcastle's Mathieu Debuchy helping the Swans to a shock 3-0 win in their last outing. That win came off the back of a battering of the same score from Man City, and Laudrup will be demanding a win here against Hull which could move the Welsh side to within a point of Man United. Unfortunately for Swansea, that's not as impressive a statistic as it might have been this time last season, given the Red Devil's current plights, but Laudrup will take it nevertheless. Hull are not to be written off however and have good form in this fixture, unbeaten in their last four league meetings with the Swans (W3, D1) and making impressive strides under Steve Bruce, who led his side to a terrific win over Liverpool at the start of the month. Just a point and a league standing separate these two teams, who are meeting in the Premier League for the first ever time, and neither must ever have imagined they'd be in the position they each find themselves now - looking to cement a mid-table spot in England's topflight. Prediction: 1-1
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
