Preview | West Bromwich Albion v Swansea City
Swansea City make their first away trip of the season as they face West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns this afternoon (3pm).
Michael Duff's Swans are looking to build on encouraging signs in their draw with Birmingham City and subsequent win over Northampton Town, and will be cheered on by a sold-out away end in the west Midlands.
The Baggies have lost their opening two games of the season, but they have a squad boasting no shortage of Championship experience and players with previous promotions to their names.
It all sets up an intriguing contest.
TEAM NEWS
Michael Duff will weigh up whether to make changes after acknowledging the performance against Northampton had given him a selection headache.
The likes of Joe Allen, Ollie Cooper and Liam Cullen caught the eye, while there were no injury worries arising from the win over the Cobblers.
Josh Ginnelly and Mykola Kuharevich got their first minutes as Swansea players under their belts, but the pair are building up their fitness and sharpness after disrupted pre-seasons.
Charlie Patino is in contention to make his debut following his loan move from Arsenal.
PRE-MATCH VIEWS
Michael Duff: "It was nice for me and the team to get our first win [against Northampton Town].
“It’ll be a tough game. They were unlucky against Blackburn.
“They’ve got good players and a manager who knows the level really well.
“They’ve got a lot of Championship experience with a good core from last season to pick from.”
Carlos Corberan: "Swansea are a team with a lot of good players. They’ve had a very good summer. They know how to play football, they understand spaces and they want to have the ball.
"We will try to use all of our strengths and impact on their weaknesses to make us as competitive as we can be, what they do is not up to us, it’s not something we can control.
"They’re going to be competitive, the only difference between us last season was goal difference, so we know that we’re going against a club that we know have a good team, a good coach and will be a nice challenge to face."
MEET THE OFFICIALS
Sam Barrot is the man in charge at The Hawthorns. He will be assisted by Jonathan Hunt and Mark Dwyer. Simon Mather will be the fourth official.
You can find our more about the officiating team below.
REMEMBER THE LAST TIME?
A penalty save from birthday boy Steven Benda and a late winner from substitute Michael Obafemi helped Swansea City make it three wins in four games as they took all three points against West Bromwich Albion in a breathless contest at The Hawthorns last season.
Swansea had led early through Matty Sorinola’s first goal for the club, but second-half goals from Jake Livermore and Grady Diangana had given the Baggies the lead.
Olivier Ntcham then produced a moment of magic to bring the visitors level, only for the hosts to look set to claim the spoils when Armstrong Oko-Flex brought down Karlan Grant with nine minutes remaining.
But Benda, on his 24th birthday, denied the Albion striker with his feet and the visitors went on to snatch victory as Obafemi turned to find the net after excellent work from Ntcham and Matt Grimes and make it a perfect day trip for the 1,700-plus members of the Jack Army in the away end.
PRIME NUMBERS
4 - Swansea City have won their last four meetings with West Brom, their best run of results against the Baggies since the clubs first faced each other in 1927.
8 - Swansea have scored 10 goals in those four games, with eight of them arriving in the 61st minute or later.