Swanseavs.Blackburn

The hosts are sitting in 17th place in the Championship table, while the visitors currently occupy a playoff berth in fifth position.

Match preview

Swansea are searching for a new permanent boss after they parted ways with Luke Williams following last Saturday's 3-1 away defeat against Stoke City.

Josh Tymon saw his opener cancelled out by Wouter Burger, before Bae Jun-ho and Lewis Baker found the net to condemn the Swans to a seventh defeat in nine league matches (D1, L1).

That concerning run of form has seen Swansea drop from ninth place at the turn of the year down to 17th position, with eight points separating them from the bottom three.

Alan Sheehan has been placed in interim charge following the end of a 13-month tenure, with the caretaker boss hoping to end the club's four-game winless home run in Saturday's clash with Blackburn.

In fact, after losing their last three home matches, Swansea are now at risk of losing four consecutive league matches at the Swansea.com Stadium for the first time since January/February 2024.

The Swans can at least take some inspiration from the fact they have won three of their previous four home meetings with Blackburn, including a 2-1 win in last season's clash in front of their own supporters.

Like their hosts, Blackburn are also in the process of recruiting a new manager after John Eustace opted to leave for relegation-threatened Derby County earlier this month.

Rovers have responded well to Eustace's departure, winning their first two matches under interim boss David Lowe via a 2-0 scoreline.

Makhtar Gueye netted a brace to fire his side past West Bromwich Albion, before they took all three points off Plymouth Argyle thanks to efforts from Adam Forshaw and Tyrhys Dolan.

As a result of those victories, Blackburn have taken their tally to 51 points from 33 matches, giving them a four-point buffer to Coventry City in seventh position.

After claiming back-to-back shutouts, Rovers have now recorded 13 clean sheets in the Championship this season - a tally that has been better by just four teams in the second tier.

They will hope a strong backline can provide the foundation to complete a league double over Swansea after picking up a narrow 1-0 victory in October's reverse fixture.

Swansea City Championship form:

L

L

L

W

L

L

Blackburn Rovers Championship form:

L

L

W

L

W

W

Blackburn Rovers form (all competitions):

L

W

L

L

W

W

Team News

The hosts are expected to be without defender Kristian Pedersen and midfielder Joe Allen due to their respective injury issues.

Sheehan could be tempted to move away from Swansea's recent tactic of using three centre-backs in favour of implementing a back four for Saturday's home fixture.

If Sheehan opts to switch formation, he may decide to hand starting opportunities to the likes of Josh Key and Zan Vipotnik.

As for the visitors, they are likely to be without Owen Beck, Harry Pickering, Scott Wharton, Yuki Ohashi and Sondre Tronstad.

Experienced defender Danny Batth remains unavailable for selection after missing the win over Plymouth with a hamstring issue.

Will Buckley, Ryan Hedges and Andreas Weimann are all pushing for recalls after dropping down to the bench last weekend.

Swansea City possible starting lineup:

Vigouroux; Key, Cabango, Delcroix, Tymon; O'Brien, Franco; Ronaldo, Cullen, Eom; Vipotnik

Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:

Pears; Brittain, Hyam, Sanderson, Ribeiro; Buckley, Travis; Hedges, Weimann, Dolan; Gueye

We say: Swansea City 0-2 Blackburn Rovers

Written by

Ben Sully

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