Date: Thursday, September 19
Venue: Mestalla, Valencia
Kick-Off: 18:00 Swansea City visit Valencia for their opening fixture of the Europa League in Group A.
Team News
Swansea winger Pablo Hernandez will not play against his former side Valencia tonight after being ruled out with a hamstring strain. However, striker Wilfried Bony will be fit to play against the Spaniards, despite injuring his ribs in the 2-2 draw against Liverpool on Sunday. Valencia manager Miroslav Djukic has promised his side will attack. The La Liga club have suffered a difficult start to their season and are currently 16th in the table after losing three of their four games. However, Djukic claims his side will not play conservatively, despite opting to leave Victor Ruiz and Oriol Romeu, who is on loan from Chelsea, out of his squad due to tactical reasons. Vicente Guaita is set to start in goal instead of Diego Alves. (
Sky Sports)
Key Stats
Valencia are without a win in over a month, with their last victory coming against Malaga on August 17. However, they have already beaten English opposition this season, defeating Everton 1-0 in a pre-season friendly at Goodison Park. Swansea go into this tie off the back of a 2-2 draw against Liverpool, but have won only once in the Premier League this season. The Swans qualified for the Europa League by beating Petrolul Ploiesti 6-3 on aggregate, despite losing the second leg 2-1 away.
Likely Line-Ups
Valencia Guaita, Pereira, Costa, Mathieu, Bernat, Canales, Parejo, Banega, Postiga, Jonas, Pabon
Swansea Vorm, Rangel, Williams, Chico, Davies, Britton, De Guzman, Shelvey, Michu, Bony, Routledge
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