Swansea begin life without sacked manager Bob Bradley as they aim to move out of the relegation zone against Bournemouth.

Bradley was relieved of his duties having taken charge of just 11 matches following Swansea's 4-1 loss to West Ham on Boxing Day, and the club have since made Bayern Munich assistant Paul Clement the preferred candidate for the job, according to Sky sources.

Caretaker manager Alan Curtis will take charge of the team on New Year's Eve and will want his players to put in an improved display after suffering three straight league defeats.

"I have been in this situation before, it does feels a bit like Groundhog Day," Curtis said in his pre-match press conference on Thursday. "It is a game-to-game basis.

"Somebody could come in as we speak, tomorrow [Friday] or by the weekend, but I will be in charge on Saturday and we will take it from there."

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Swansea, who are currently 19th in the Premier League table and four points off safety, will be hoping to record a clean sheet against the Cherries with the Welsh club conceding 19 goals in their last six matches.

Bournemouth head into the match after losing their last two league matches, including a 3-0 Boxing Day defeat to league-leaders Chelsea. Eddie Howe's team currently sit 12th in the table.

Team news

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Jefferson Montero is ruled out of Swansea's Premier League home game and faces a month on the sidelines with a hamstring strain.

The Ecuador winger was carried off in the defeat to West Ham which marked the end of Bradley's short-lived reign.

Apart from Montero, caretaker boss Curtis has a full squad to choose from with Wales defender Neil Taylor having recovered from the groin injury which forced him to sit out the Hammers game.

Bournemouth will welcome defender Nathan Ake back for their trip to Swansea.

Ake was ineligible to face parent club Chelsea on Boxing Day but should return to the side following the 3-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge.

Lewis Cook is still recovering from an ankle problem and Marc Pugh misses out with a hamstring problem.

Match stats

Swansea scored twice in both league games against Bournemouth last season, but won neither match (2-2 at home, 3-2 away).

Bournemouth took the lead three times in their last meeting with Swansea in March, with Steve Cook's goal 12 minutes from time enough to seal three points.

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The last six league games between these two sides have seen 27 goals scored (4.5 per game).

During Bradley's reign Swansea conceded at least three goals in eight of their 11 Premier League games, including three of their last four home games, conceding 29 goals in total.

Bradley lasted just 84 days in charge of Swansea before his dismissal on December 27 and the Swans picked up only eight points in 11 league games with the American as boss.

Each of the Swans' last nine Premier League goals have been scored in the second half.

Merson's prediction

I don't get this situation at Swansea. This is their biggest game of the season in my opinion. If they lose then they can say goodnight, they haven't got a manager. The place is in disarray - if you look back, they would get managers in who adopted the style of the former manager and it was a lovely club.

All of a sudden, they're in a sticky situation and they've panicked like mad. To go into a game like this, which is winnable, and they've got no manager. I'd understand if they were playing Man United or Chelsea and thought they wouldn't get much out of the game, but this was a must-win.

I'm going with a Bournemouth win, the way they opened up Chelsea at times, I dread to think what they could do to Swansea. No manager, biggest game of the season - unreal.

PAUL PREDICTS: 1-3 (18/1 with Sky Bet)

Betting

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Bournemouth are marginal 6/4 favourites to add to managerless Swansea's woes at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday afternoon, with the Swans 7/4 and the draw 12/5. It's 12/1 that Bournemouth exploit Swansea's defensive frailty and win by three or more goals. Fernando Llorente, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Callum Wilson are all 5/1 in the first goalscorer betting, with Borja Baston and Benik Afobe 6/1 shots.

Swansea v Bournemouth features in the New Year's Eve Super 6, and you could land a £250,000 jackpot by entering for free.