After a brilliant 2-0 victory in the South Wales Derby over rivals Cardiff City, Swansea City return from the international break with an EFL Championship fixture away at Hillsborough Stadium where they face a Sheffield Wednesday side left second-bottom of the table following a humiliating 6-0 defeat at the hands of Ipswich Town.
EFL Championship Good Friday Matchup: Swansea City Predicted Lineup Against Sheffield Wednesday
The work continues 👊
📺 Watch the latest from Fairwood 👉 https://t.co/fe346ASHmW pic.twitter.com/YpvRx8ngBq
— Swansea City AFC (@SwansOfficial) March 22, 2024
How Swansea City Have Lined-up Recently
Swansea manager Luke Williams seems to have settled on his preferred playing squad, barring sporadic changes due to player availability. There have been five players who have started every single league fixture under Williams since he took over in January, with four of those players seeing out every minute of those matches.
Captain Matt Grimes has been one of the standout performers for Swansea City this season, with his reliability and availability key for the club. Grimes is one of only two outfield players to have played every available minute in the Championship this season, alongside Leeds’ summer signing and Wales international Ethan Ampadu.
Read more: Swansea City International Break Update: Lowe’s CONCACAF Drama, Cullen’s Euro Dreams And More
Another player to have played every minute available in the division is young goalkeeper Carl Rushworth, who at just 22 years old is the youngest player in the league to have achieved this feat. The Brighton loanee has been a smart signing for the Swans as he has prevented the most goals of any goalkeeper in the league with a huge +6.4 post-shot expected goals minus goals conceded, almost double the amount of goals prevented by the second-best goalkeeper in that statistic, Mads Hermansen of Leicester City.
The other three players to have started every game under Luke Williams are Jamie Paterson, Josh Tymon, and Nathan Wood, with the latter two avoiding being substituted in all of the 12 league matches under their new manager.
Despite Jamal Lowe, Jerry Yates, and Liam Cullen all auditioning for the sole striker spot in Williams’ 4-2-3-1 formation, it seems that Welsh international Cullen may have secured the spot after his goal in the last league match against Cardiff.
Swansea Recent Form and Tactics
Swansea City manager Luke Williams has stuck to the 4-2-3-1 formation since his arrival in South Wales and his possession-oriented style of football has continued. His side has averaged a strong 60% possession in their last four matches against Cardiff City, Bristol City, Sunderland, and Blackburn Rovers.
Read more: Frank Worthington: Highlights From An Entertainer
Williams’ Notts County side were also known for their high goalscoring abilities. In his 26 league matches with the Magpies, his team scored 2.16 goals per game. That number has halved in his 12 league matches with the Swans to 1.08. A staggering 42% of Williams’ League Two fixtures this season ended with Notts County scoring three or more goals, he is yet to do that once with his new team since taking over at the Swansea.com Stadium.
Swansea’s derby victory over Cardiff was their first win in three matches, and their first clean sheet in seven.
Swansea Injuries and Absences
The Swans have multiple players ruled out of Friday’s match due to injury. Ben Cabango received an injury in the build-up to the match against Cardiff which resulted in him being withdrawn from the Wales international squad. Kyle Naughton started against Cardiff but has since picked up an injury. Josh Ginnelly, Liam Walsh and Harrison Ashby are also out.
Ukrainian striker Mykola Kukharevych is also a concern due to a knock picked up whilst playing for Ukraine U23 during the international break.
Naughton’s injury gives a chance to Josh Key to start in the right-back position. If picked, it would be a first start under Luke Williams’ management for the summer signing from Exeter City.
Swansea City Predicted Lineup
Carl Rushworth – GK
Josh Tymon – LB
Nathan Wood – CB
Harry Darling – CB
Josh Key – RB
Matt Grimes – CM
Joe Allen – CM
Przemysław Płacheta – LW
Jamie Paterson – CAM
Ronald – RW
Liam Cullen -ST
(All statistics from Fbref.com and WhoScored.com)
