For football fans Christmas is an exciting time of year, with plenty of Premier League action to enjoy. However, for those involved it can be a very testing time and there are managers who are looking over their shoulder as the festive period begins, none more so, then Bob Bradley.
Swansea City suffered another disappointing defeat last time out, losing 3-0 at Middlesbrough, a team who were playing Championship football last season. The gloss of the 3-0 win over Sunderland on the 10th December was soon wiped away with two straight defeats away from home, the other being 3-1 at West Bromwich Albion.
Bradley will be clinging hope to the fact Swansea have won their last two home matches, scoring 8 goals in the process but it’s not been scoring goals which has been the problem. Swansea have conceded 15 goals in their previous five Premier League games, at an average of 3 goals per match. This is an even more remarkable statistic when you consider they have kept a clean sheet during that run of games.
Trends also show not only have there been over 2.5 goals scored in each of Swansea’s last five matches in the Premier League, they have been conceding an average of 2.18 goals per match in the Premier League this season, which is poor.
However, the visitors to the Liberty Stadium on Boxing Day, West Ham, have also been struggling to keep the ball out of their net this season, especially away from home. The Hammers have conceded 8 goals in their last four Premier League games and an average of 2.2 goals per match away from home in the league this season.
Therefore, neither Swansea or West Ham are inspiring confidence in terms of keeping a clean sheet in this game and both teams are likely to score goals. The question is, which team can score more?
West Ham have had some tough recent away fixtures but have scored goals at Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. In fact, they scored twice at both Anfield and White Hart Lane, which should give them plenty of confidence in finding the back of the net more than once against Swansea. The Welsh club have scored 8 goals in their last two home Premier League matches, so will also be feeling confident of scoring more than one goal in this match.
The only thing which works against West Ham is their away record this season, which has seen them win only one match in the league. That being said, they are undefeated in their last two away matches, holding both Manchester United and Liverpool to a draw and should be capable of a repeat result in South Wales. The draw and both teams to score and the draw and over 3.5 goals are markets worth considering for what could be a thoroughly entertaining game.