Preview | Southampton v Swansea City
Swansea City face Southampton in the third round of the Emirates FA Cup for the second time in the space of four season at St Mary's this afternoon (4.30pm).
The Swans head to take on the Premier League Saints, having lost an entertaining tie 3-2 after extra-time when they locked horns at the Swansea.com Stadium in January 2022.
The visitors will be hoping for a different outcome this time around and to claim a top-flight scalp to back up a largely encouraging run over the festive period.
Saints, meanwhile, will be after a morale-boosting victory having endured a difficult return to the Premier League thus far.
Team news
Swans boss Luke Williams must weigh up whether to make changes to provide respite to players who racked up a heavy amount of minutes in a short timespan over Christmas and New Year.
He will be without defender Ben Cabango, who remains sidelined with a groin problem, while Ollie Cooper, Kristian Pedersen, Ollie Cooper, Sam Parker and Josh Ginnelly are also out.
Pre-match views
Luke Williams: “We are looking good, there are no new injury problems, we have a fit squad and we are looking forward to it.
“We have had time to recover from what was an incredible schedule, but we had some fascinating data from our last game which showed physically we had our highest output of the season. That shows what an incredible group of players we have, who dug very deep to get us a result in the last moment.
“So, we will be showing respect to the competition, that’s for sure. It is a change of pace and a chance for glory.
“That’s what the cup is about, and I hope we can make something exciting for our fans. It’s a chance to spice things up and give different experiences, and we have that chance.”
Ivan Juric: "I think the players are working hard and well and I think we have to find a way to be much more competitive.
"We’re working a lot to find our identity and we’ll see on Sunday how hard we’ve been working.
"For us [the FA Cup] is really important. We need the joy of playing good games. For us in this moment everything is important.
"I don’t want to rest [players]. I have 17, 18 players, maybe more, who are competitive.
"I just want to win the game and then after the game I’ll think about Manchester [United] and Tottenham."
Meet the officials
Experienced Premier League officials Tony Harrington is the man in the middle for this afternoon's fixture.
You can find out more about the Cleveland referee and his team below.
Remember the last time?
Swansea City suffered a heavy defeat on their last visit to St Mary's in December 2023.
The Swans fashioned a couple of good chances before Joe Aribo’s deflected opener and were in the game at half-time, only for a mistake at the back to gift a second to the home side with Sam Edozie finishing from close range.
Substitute Ryan Fraser further compounded matters for the Swans with a brace after being introduced with 20 minutes remaining, before Che Adams added a fifth in injury time.
Prime numbers
1 - Swansea have won on just one of their last 15 trips to face Southampton over the last 64 years. Jonjo Shelvey grabbed the cricial goal in that sole victory in 2025.
6 - Ronald's cross for Joe Allen's equaliser against West Bromwich Albion means the winger now has six assists to his name this season. That's the most in the Swans squad, and double the amount of any other player.