Sheffield Wednesday’s run of 4 matches without defeat in the Championship was brought to an abrupt halt in last weekend’s 2-1 defeat away at Blackburn Rovers, despite The Owls leading 1-0 with just 7 minutes remaining.
Sheffield Wednesday somehow contrived to lose that encounter at Ewood Park which would have left manager, Gary Monk, seething, and he’ll no doubt be demanding a reaction from his players in this upcoming top 7 clash with Swansea City this Saturday.
Wednesday had previously registered home wins against Wigan Athletic and Stoke City ass well as drawing with local rivals, Cardiff City, and Leeds United in 1-1 and 0-0 draws respectively.
Since his arrival at Hillsborough, Sheffield Wednesday manager, Monk, has certainly tightened things up at the back as his Owls side possess the joint best defensive record at home in the Championship along with Leeds United.
Monk will be up against another former club in Swansea City this Saturday, whom he played for in every division and was a former manager there too. The hosts have lost just 1 of their 7 matches at home to date and 6 of Wednesday’s 7 home matches have also resulted in under 2.5 goals.
Swansea City sit in 4th place and seem to be back on track under manager, Steve Cooper following recent back-to-back wins against Cardiff City and Wigan Athletic which has maintained Swansea’s position in the early play-off standings.
After having secured just 1 win from their previous 7 matches in the Championship, these wins would have been a welcome boost for The Swans who had only managed a 2-1 win at Charlton Athletic amidst defeats to Nottingham Forest, Stoke City and Brentford.
However, form away from home has been strong for the Welsh visitors as the aforementioned 3 defeats were all inflicted upon Swansea at their Liberty Stadium, while on their travels, Cooper’s side still remain unbeaten.
Swansea have won 4 and drawn 3 of their 7 away matches to date along with keeping 3 clean sheets as well, while 4 of these 7 matches on their travels have also resulted in under 2.5 goals.
This clash therefore looks like being a real old-fashioned arm-wrestle between 7th placed Sheffield Wednesday and 4th placed Swansea City and goals could be at a premium here.