Swansea City travel to Sunderland on Saturday afternoon knowing a win would leave them just one game away from keeping their Premier League status.
With Sunderland already down, the Black Cats have very little to play for in terms of Premier League survival but their performance at Hull City last week, shows they cannot be underestimated.
Whatever happens in their final three league matches of the season, Sunderland are going to be playing their football in the Championship next season. It’s been a hugely disappointing campaign for David Moyes, who seemingly gave up on any hope of staying up long before relegation was confirmed.
Trends show Sunderland have won just three of their previous twenty-three matches in all competitions and it’s this dreadful run of form which saw them relegated from the Premier League with plenty of matches remaining.
One of the major problems Sunderland have faced in recent weeks has been their inability to score goals in the Premier League. Sunderland have failed to score a goal in nine of their last eleven Premier League games and haven’t scored a goal in six of their last seven home league games.
Only Middlesbrough, who have also been relegated, have scored less goals than Sunderland in the Premier League this season.
Swansea make the trip north having won two and drawn one of their previous three Premier League games. The home victories over Stoke City and Everton plus the impressive draw at Manchester United has seen Paul Clement’s team rise above Hull in the league table.
Following the 1-0 defeat at Watford in April, it appeared Swansea were destined for the drop but now they know wins from their last two games will see them avoid relegation.
Confidence will be high in the Swansea camp but trends show they have won only two of their previous eighteen away games in all competitions. Their last away win in the league came at Liverpool in January and Clement would love a repeat of that result on Saturday.
Looking at the team news and Sunderland still have several players unavailable due to injury. Paddy McNair, Duncan Watmore, Jan Kirchhoff and Bryan Oviedo will all miss the game. Moyes also has concerns over Steven Pienaar, Lee Cattermole and Darron Gibson.
Swansea must make do without three wingers as Wayne Routledge, Nathan Dyer and Jefferson Montero are all injured and will not make the trip to the Stadium of Light. Angel Rangel is also out and Clement is unlikely to make many changes to the team which defeated Everton.
Sunderland’s win over Hull last week, should have given Swansea a warning about this game and it will not be easy. This is Sunderland’s last home match of the season and they will feel they owe the fans a good performance.
However, Swansea seem to have the bit between their teeth now and are in decent form. With Hull playing at Crystal Palace on Sunday, a win here would place the Tigers under huge pressure and Swansea can pick up maximum points.