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Swansea City vs QPR Preview | Team News, Key Men & Stats

On Tuesday night the Liberty Stadium will play host Queens Park Rangers. Swansea go into the clash off the back of a disappointing draw at home to Crystal Palace, so expect the Swans to look to swiftly return to winning ways against relegation battlers QPR. Harry Redknapp’s side picked up a huge victory against Leicester City on Saturday. Any newly promoted side will look for victories against other newcomers and the 3 points gained against Leicester could be priceless not only in terms of points on the board, but also confidence going forward for the players and fans. Despite the massive difference in the two sides’ league positions, their form over the last six league games is similar. Both have two wins in their last 6, picking up points during the run against top 4 opposition. Swansea are looking to cement their place in the top half and keep in the fight for a potential European finish, whereas the visitors are looking to climb out of the bottom 3 and may feel after their recent performances they are capable of getting a positive result against the Welsh side.

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Teams News

QPR’s injury problems haven’t changed from the weekend match as they will still be without: Ferdinand, Faurlin, Sandro, Zamora,Taarabt and Suk-Young. Fatigue issues aside due to the close proximity of this fixture to their last, it would be wise to expect the same side that won against Leicester to start this match.

Swansea meanwhile will continue to be without summer signing Federico Fernandez and Ashley Richards. Like with the visitors the only reason for change to the regular side that Monk puts out would be tiredness due to the congestion of fixtures this week. With an away match next week to an in-form West Ham, Monk will want 3 points on the board before making that journey.

Interesting Statistics

  • Last time the two sides met Swansea won 4-1 at the Liberty Stadium back in February 2013
  • The fixture has taken place 4 times in the Premier League
  • Swansea have won on two of the four occasions and are yet to lose at home to QPR
  • Nathan Dyer has scored the most goals in the fixture of players in the two squads with 2 previous strikes against the R’s

Key Players

Swansea City: Ki Sung Yeung

The heartbeat of a Swansea side that always look to keep possession of the ball is Ki Sung Yeung. The South Korean midfielder is regularly found at the base of the midfield either starting moves forward for the side or recycling play, allowing them to dictate the pace of the game. In a home match against a QPR side who will be energised by their win at the weekend, the midfielder will be looking to take control of the game to stifle any attempt from QPR to get on top of the home side. With an average Pass Accuracy of 91% this season the former Celtic player rarely gives up the ball and it will be his composure on the ball that will put Swansea in the driving seat against their newly promoted challengers.

QPR: Leroy Fer

The Dutch international got his first goal of the season on Saturday and QPR will be looking for more goals from the midfielder. QPR spent 8 million pounds to secure Fer’s services this summer from relegated Norwich City. Therefore he is a man in the midfield the fans hope can make things happen. The former Feyenoord player has created 26 chances for QPR this season with only 2 of them turning into goals. His creation is there and it is likely against Swansea he will again be creating more opportunities for the R’s and it will be up to them to take those chances. His ability to impose himself on the game will come down to his decisions when he has the ball, as other players in the midfield will look to break up Swansea’s play and win it back. Since Swansea love to hold onto possession of the ball, Fer’s opportunities may be limited, what he decides to do when they eventually do have the ball will be key to any QPR success.

Prediction

Swansea City will be expecting to win a game like this at home to match their ambitions of staying in the top half of the table and competing for a European spot. QPR, however, will be positive about causing problems to this Swansea side given their own good form as of late. A win could see them move out of the drop zone, which would do their confidence no harm.  This Swansea side I feel have too much quality for QPR; their midfield and attack has the capability to dominate the game and exploit QPR’s defence which hasn’t kept a clean sheet since the end of October.

2-1 Swansea Win

Joshua Smith
Joshua Smithhttp://www.writerjsmith.com
Avid football fan and keen writer with a flair for expression and an opinion to share.
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