Match Preview: Swansea City v Sunderland - all you need to know ahead of kick-off!

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Saturday 4th November 2023

(13th) Swansea City v Sunderland (8th)

Championship

Swansea.com Stadium

Kick-Off: 15:00

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Tickets & Match Coverage

Tickets: Tickets are available via www.safc.com.

TV/Stream: Full live match coverage is available via www.safc.com.

Radio: Full live match commentary available via BBC Radio Newcastle (not online)

Don’t forget to follow the blow-by-blow account of the game on the Roker Report Twitter feed (@RokerReport) and check out the player ratings after the full-time whistle at www.RokerReport.com!

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The build-up...

It’s nice to go back into a fixture with a win behind us after last weekend’s comfortable victory over Norwich City on our own patch. In turn, that followed a great performance at Leicester City, which is potentially more of a sign of how we’re playing considering how poor the Canaries were last week.

So the signs are good based on recent form, although we get back on the road on the back of two away defeats, although only one of those can be identified as an occasion that can be classed as an off day as a result of us being crap at Stoke City.

Last week’s introduction of Nazariy Rusyn up top for his start was promising and it’s doubtful Tony Mowbray will change anything on that front this afternoon. But, it will be interesting to see how Rusyn does away from home in a game that’s likely to be very different to the test he faced last time out.

Our record in South Wales isn’t great with one win in the last ten, which came back in January 2016 where a Jermain Defoe hat-trick inspired a 4-2 win for Sam Allardyce’s side. Since our first appearance at was originally the Liberty Stadium and is now the Swansea.com Stadium, we’ve won one in seven and three have ended in defeat.

Last season, our first half at Swansea was one of our worst 45 minutes of the season, and based on recent weeks it doesn’t take a genius to work out that it depends on what Sunderland turn up this afternoon that dictates what kind of afternoon we’ll have.

Photo by Will Matthews/PA Images via Getty Images

It seems a long time ago now, but it was at the end of the 2017-18 season (the year Sunderland dropped into League One) when Swansea fell out of the Premier League after a seven year stay in the top flight.

The only other occasion Swansea had a place in the top division was back in the 1980s after their meteoric rise from Division Four under John Toshack, which lasted two seasons, meaning that period between 2011-12 and 2017-18 was the most successful in the club's history.

This season is the Swans' sixth in the Championship following that relegation, which have included twice making the play-offs, where they lost out to Brentford on both occasions, once in the semi-final and the other in the final itself at Wembley back in 2021.

Following that defeat, they decided to part company with Steve Cooper and head in a different direction under Russell Martin who left for Southampton in the summer after finishing 15th and 10th in his two attempts at returning Swansea to the Premier League.

Michael Duff was the man selected to replace Martin, leaving his post at Barnsley in the summer to head to Wales, but so far it’s been a steady start for the former Cheltenham Town full-back (where any Championship Manager 01/02 bods will have memories of signing him from).

They currently sit 13th in the table, but only four points behind the Lads, although their home form isn’t pulling up any trees. Three defeats in the last five on home soil and only two wins out of the seven played at the Swansea.com Stadium means they have currently picked up two more points on their travels in the same number of games - something they will be looking to put right this afternoon to avoid a third straight defeat on their own patch.

Photo by Athena Pictures/Getty Images

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Sunderland away form...

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Swansea City home form...

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The betting...

The bookies have the Lads at a fairly short 6/4, while a home win is priced at around 8/5 and the draw is 23/10.

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Head to head... at Swansea

(All competitions)

• Sunderland wins: 4
• Draws: 6
• Swansea City wins: 8
• Sunderland goals: 24
• Swansea City goals: 41

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Last time we met... at the Swansea.com Stadium

Saturday 8th October 2022

Championship

Swansea City 2-1 Sunderland

[Cooper 13’, Darling 45’ - Clarke 51’]

Sunderland: Patterson, Gooch, O’nien, Batth, Alese, Evans, Neil (Matete), Roberts (Bennette), Embleton (Ba), Clarke, Pritchard (Diallo) Substitutes not used: Bass, Cirkin, Wright

Swansea City: Benda, Latibeaudiere, Manning, Wood (Sorinola), Darling, Cabango, Cundle (Obafemi), Grimes, Piroe (Oko-Flex), Fulton, Cooper (Ntcham) Substitutes not used: Fisher, Stevens, Naughton

Attendance: 18,008

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

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Played for both...

Colin Pascoe

Pascoe began his career at Swansea in the early 1980’s and after progressing through the ranks, the skillful forward made around 200 appearances for the Swans before Denis Smith brought him to Roker in 1988.

The Welsh international played his part in our journey from Division Three up to the top flight, but injuries hampered his later years at Roker before he returned to Swansea in 1993.

After hanging up his boots in the late 1990’s Pascoe went into coaching, working primarily with Brendan Rodgers at the likes of Swansea and Liverpool.

Photo by Teesside Archive/Mirrorpix/Getty Images

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