Swansea have made a habit of ruining the opening day parties of Premier League big hitters. Just ask Manchester United and, more recently, Chelsea. The Swans come into this game with an impressive away performance against defending champions Chelsea. Though they only managed to get a point from the game, Gary Monk’s side had more positives than negatives. Newcastle though, under new management and a few decent signings, are expected to do better than last season after the horror show under John Carver. Steve McLaren’s side would have hoped to get off to a winning start against Southampton last week, only for Shane Long to deny them all 3 points. Swansea have never lost to Newcastle since 2012 and they will be looking to maintain that run.
Team News
Swansea City
Jordi Amat is definitely out for this game after he broke his metatarsal at the end of last season while Ki-Sung Yueng is doubtful.
Newcastle United
Vernon Anita could return for this game, but Remy Cabella, Paul Dummett, Emmanuel Rivière, Sylvain Marveaux and Chris Good are all definitely out.
Statistics
- Newcastle have failed to beat Swansea on each of the last five occasions with their last win coming in 2012. (L4, D1)
- Swansea have scored two or more goals in each of their last four meetings with Newcastle.
- In the overall meetings between the two teams, Newcastle have won twenty-two times, while Swansea have won only fourteen with six games ending in draws.
Key Men
Andre Ayew – Swansea City
Swansea new boy, Andre Ayew, hit the ground running on his debut for the club with a finely taken goal against the champions Chelsea. With Montero putting in decent balls into the box, Ayew is fully expected to score and I am sure he would want to continue his goalscoring form against Newcastle.
Georginio Wijnaldum – Newcastle United
Wijnaldum made a perfect start to his Newcastle career by putting in a solid performance, always looking to get forward and providing a driving force from midfield. He could not have dreamt of a better day as he rose to score a fantastic header to cap his fine performance. He could be pivotal if Newcastle have any chance of winning this game.
Odds
- For Swansea to win you can get evens at Bet365
- For an away win it’s 16/5 at Ladbrokes
- The draw is 5/2 at Unibet
Prediction
Swansea 2-1 Newcastle
With Swansea playing at home, following on from their impressive performance last week and two quality strikers, Swansea might edge this one although I expect Newcastle to give them a tough fight.