Date: Thursday, October 3 Venue: Liberty Stadium Kick-Off: 20:05 Which of Swansea and St Gallen will take control in Group A of the Europa League tonight?
Team News
Swansea will be without a trio of players for Thursday night's visit of St Gallen in the Europa League. Captain Ashley Williams, Pablo Hernandez and Garry Monk are all out with respective ankle, hamstring and knee injuries. Angel Rangel (knock) is also a doubt, while Roland Lamah has a toe problem. St Gallen will be without striker Sven Lehmann after the youngster broke his leg last week. Long-term absentees Ilija Ivic and Dzengis Cavusevic remain sidelined, but in-form striker Goran Karanovic should start. (Eurosport)
Key Stats
This is the sides' first UEFA club competition meeting, and Swansea's first encounter with Swiss opponents. St Gallen striker Goran Karanovic has scored eight goals in 13 appearances this season. Only four UEFA club competition games have been played between Welsh and Swiss sides, with the Welsh having slightly the better of them W2 D1 L1. St Gallen's only previous meetings with English Premier League opponents came against Chelsea in the first round of the 2000/01 UEFA Cup, knocking out the Blues 2-1 on aggregate.
This tie is finely balanced with both Swansea and St Gallen winning their opening fixtures in matchday one of the Europa League. Both are on three points each in Group A and one of them can seize the initiative and storm to the top of the table with victory tonight. Swansea will come into this tie in a buoyant mood having so impressively defeated Valencia 3-0 a fortnight ago, though St Gallen will have nothing to fear. The Swiss outfit have never played tonight's opponents and haven't faced a side from the English Premier League since the 2000-01 season. However, then, they overcame Chelsea over two legs to famously knock the Blues out of the first round of the UEFA Cup. St Gallen have also made an impressive start to their domestic season with 15 points from nine matches leaving them fourth in the league. The Swiss are on a 12-match unbeaten run in all competitions and in Goran Karanovic have a striker in form, with eight goals scored in 13 appearances this season. Another tough obstacle for Swansea to hurdle then tonight, but one they should still overcome.
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.
