Preview | Swansea City v Burnley

Swansea City kick off 2023 as they entertain Championship leaders Burnley at the Swansea.com Stadium this afternoon (3pm).

Russell Martin’s side will be looking to start the new calendar year off on a positive note after a difficult run over the final weeks of 2022.

But to do that they will need to be at their best against a Clarets side who are in tremendous form and currently look destined for a rapid return to the top-flight.

Vincent Kompany’s side have suffered just two defeats all season, and have lost just once in the second tier since mid-August.

But the Swans have been on a good run of form at home, losing just once in SA1 since September 13, while a look at the Championship table over the 2022 calendar year shows Martin's side had the fifth-best record of teams who spent the whole 12 months in the second tier.

Only Sheffield United (93), Luton Town (82), Millwall (72) and Preston (70) racked up more than Swansea's 69 points.

Team news

Russell Martin will monitor the fitness of his Swansea City squad before deciding whether changes are necessary following the short turnaround from Friday’s game against Watford.

Liam Walsh is the only injury absentee as the Swans look to back up their outstanding 4-0 victory over the Hornets.

Pre-match views

Russell Martin: "We know we need to find some consistency, and hopefully the win over Watford can give us a platform to do that.

"The players and the fans really fed off each other on Friday, I really enjoyed that, and I am sure we will have the same again on Monday.

"They are the league leaders, they have been for much of the season, and they gave us our toughest afternoon of the season so far when we played at their place.

"I think it will be a great game, I am really excited about it. The way we played on Friday definitely helps us prepare for that.

"We have been quite flexible with our shape in the last few games, so we will have a look at Burnley but I want us to bring the same energy.

"Vincent has done a great job there, I love the way they play. I think it will make for a fascinating game as we are two teams who want to dominate the ball.

"But we need that same, energy and commitment we showed against Watford."

Burnley midfielder Josh Cullen: ““We’ll take the positives [from the win in the Stoke game] but I’m sure there’s plenty of stuff that we’ll review, that we need to work on as well in the performance.

“It’s a quick turnaround, so it’s just a matter of moving onto the next one as quick as possible, recovering well, analysing where we can get better and try to go to Swansea and get another good result.”

Remember the last time?

Ki Sung-Yueng struck late on to send the Swans two points clear of the drop zone courtesy of a 1-0 win over Burnley when the Clarets last visited SA1 in February 2018.

Carlos Carvalhal saw his side extend their unbeaten run to nine games in all competitions as the South Korean's strike in the 81st minute settled a closely-fought encounter.

In terms of chances, Burnley - without a win in 10 games going into the fixture - had the better opportunities in the first period.

But the Swans came into the contest after the break and claimed a priceless victory late on.

Prime numbers

1 – There has been just one draw in the last 11 meetings between the sides. The last 10 encounters have produced a winner, with the Swans claiming the spoils on seven occasions.

7 – The Swans are unbeaten in seven of the last 10 league games that have started a new calendar year, including the last four.

69 - Swansea picked up 69 points in the Championship during 2022. Only Sheffield United, Millwall, Preston and Luton secured more.