Swansea City vs Stoke City - Premier League

Swansea City vs Stoke City
Premier League : Matchday 7
Date : 02. October 2011 - 15:00 ET
Stadium : Liberty Stadium (Swansea / Wales)

Stoke, fresh from a hard fought and deserved draw against league leaders Manchester United, travel to Swansea City on Saturday. The south Wales side will be pleased with results so far; defeats against Chelsea and Manchester City may have been heavy but they were expected and performances against the likes of Wigan and West Brom show that they have no intention of being one season wonders. BET HERE:

Beattie, Caulker, Tate and Bodde provide Brendan Rodgers with some injury problems; restrained spending over the summer may have been sensible in the financial climate but it has left the Swans relatively light on Premier League experience. A run of eleven home games unbeaten extending into last season is something to defend for the Welsh side. Perhaps surprisingly, given the two sides differing approaches to the game, both have picked up just seven yellow cards in their six games so far this season - only Manchester City have accrued fewer.

Performing well in Europe, riding high in 7th place in the league, and having taken points from Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United, this could be Stoke's breakthrough season. Pulis will be delighted to have seen Peter Crouch get off the mark last weekend against United, effectively the first repayment towards his club record £10 million transfer fee. Kenwyne Jones is out, but Higginbotham should be fit again for the weekend.

Possible Line-Ups :

Swansea City : Vorm - Williams, Taylor, Caulker, Rangel - Britton, Dyer, Allen, Agustien - Graham, Sinclair.

Stoke City : Begovic - Woodgate, Huth, Shawcross, Upson - Pennant, Whitehad, Delap, Pugh - Carew, Jones.

Our prediction : Draw