Talking Tactics | Plymouth Argyle v Swansea City

Swansea City make the trip to Devon to take on Plymouth Argyle this afternoon (3pm) as they look to continue their run of three straight wins.

Ahead of the action, WhoScored.com preview the clash, taking a look at what to expect from Plymouth Argyle, the key battle and a key stat.

What to expect from Plymouth Argyle

Steven Schumacher’s side find themselves currently in 16th position, one point behind Swansea in 15th, with three wins from their first 10 games of the 2023-24 Championship season.

Argyle have had differing form home and away this season with the former proving to be much more fruitful than their travels. Argyle are winless on the road so far in the league but have won three of their five at Home Park.

The Green Army have defeated Huddersfield and Blackburn already at home, and even put six past Norwich in a 6-2 victory but were beaten by Millwall last time out.

Schumacher has favoured a 4-3-3 formation most frequently so far this season with their regular front three (Morgan Whittaker, Ryan Hardie and Bali Mumba) already providing 10 goals in their opening 10 games in the league. 

Key Battle

The WhoScored.com match forecast suggests that Plymouth will create many scoring chances and that shouldn't come as a surprise. Argyle rank fifth for shots per game in the Championship with 15.2 shots per game.

This is largely down to the aforementioned front three with Morgan Whittaker (43) and Ryan Hardie (32) amongst the top five Championship players for attempts at goal so far this season.

If Plymouth are to get on the scoresheet, Hardie looks the most likely with five league goals to his name already this season. Morgan Whittaker has also chipped in with four goals too, with Plymouth having only been outscored by four teams so far in the league.

The Swans’ backline will need to be at the top of their game for this battle and Josh Key will have an important role to play. He is Swansea’s top tackler this season in the league with an average of 2.7 per game and is ranked eighth in the Championship for total tackles (27). He has also made more interceptions (13) than any other Swansea player. 

Key Stat

The Swans have enjoyed their most recent meetings against today’s opponents and are unbeaten in their last five competitive matches against Plymouth Argyle with four wins and one draw.

Most recently the Swans overcame Plymouth 4-1 in the League Cup in 2021 thanks to a first-half goal from Jamal Lowe and a late Whittaker hat-trick.