ADAM Goodwin (@agjournalism) previews Sunday’s contest between Swansea and Newcastle.
Swansea v Newcastle | Sunday 16:00 | Sky Sports
Both teams produced a much-needed win before the international break: Swansea beating Palace, and Newcastle overcoming West Ham.
Renato Sanches could be in-line for his Swansea debut after his loan move from Bayern Munich. From a Newcastle point of view, Rafa Benitez won’t oversee the Magpies after his operation and assistant Paco Moreno will temporarily take the reins.
Swansea’s shrewd transfers could play a part
Many people have hailed Swansea’s business in the transfer window as the “best in the Premier League” after the loan addition of Renato Sanches and the return of Wilfried Bony. When speaking about Sanches, Clement said: “He is strong on the ball, is a real presence and has such quality in possession. I think he can make a significant contribution here.”
It looks as though the Euro 2016 Player of the Tournament will perhaps play in the no.10 role, or just in front of two holding midfielders in a three.
Wilfried Bony scored 26 goals in 54 games for the Swans in his first spell with the club, and despite his terrible stint at Manchester City, he’ll be hoping he can replicate his form throughout his first period at the club.
Swansea has had just 27 touches in the opposition penalty area so far, this season; the fewest by a Premier League side. This isn’t especially encouraging for the Swans but maybe the additions of Sanches and Bony could change that.
Toon to toil in front of goal
Newcastle’s 3-0 thrashing of West Ham before the international break will please the reported dissatisfied Rafa Benitez, but the Spaniard won’t be at the Liberty Stadium after his surgery last week. Whether this will affect Newcastle’s chances of winning this game is yet to be seen.
The 3-0 win over West Ham was done with plenty of injuries in the Newcastle camp, but De Andre Yedlin, Florian Lejeune, Dwight Gayle and Jonjo Shelvey will all be available, but Aleksandar Mitrovic will begin the first of his three-match ban.
The Magpies only away game this season was the 1-0 loss to Huddersfield, a match where they looked unremarkable. Their performance against Swansea this weekend can only be an improvement.
Best Bets
Bar Newcastle’s 3-0-win last weekend, both sides look very poor going forward. Even with Swansea’s new additions, I can’t see them producing a better offensive performance than what they have done so far, this season. Under 2.5 goals is 8/11 with Betfred and I can see that landing in a poor match in Swansea.
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Swansea v Newcastle – Under 2.5 Goals (8/11 Betfred)
