Swansea v Stoke preview: Both clubs set for Premier League bow as Swans relegation looms
Sunday 13 May 2018 07:23, UK
Swansea's Premier League relegation is set to be confirmed on Sunday when they host Stoke as both clubs prepare for life in the Sky Bet Championship.
Carlos Carvalhal's side are currently three points behind 17th-placed Southampton and trailing by nine goals on goal difference. They would need to win, hope Man City beat the Saints and both fixtures produce a ten-goal swing to survive.
When asked about his future at Swansea, Carvalhal said: "I talked to the chairman one of these days. I was not with my head ready to talk about anything in the future. I said to him I'm not ready to talk in this moment, I'm affected by the last game, the next one.
"After we will talk and decide what is the best to Swansea, and I will see what is the best to me. I'm a manager until the end of the contract, it's not a question of firing."
Stoke have already had their relegation confirmed after losing 2-1 to Crystal Palace last weekend and are currently bottom of the table behind West Brom, but Paul Lambert wants his side to go out on a high.
"We have to win the game on Sunday and I will go as strong as I possibly can. We have a lot of fans going to watch the match," he said. "It's been a tough week. It's still raw for everyone connected with the club. It's really disappointing that we've gone down. It's now an opportunity to strip things back and rebuild the club, though."
Team news
Stoke boss Paul Lambert has pledged to field the strongest team he has available for their trip to Swansea.
Eric Choupo-Moting has returned to training after nearly two months out with a groin problem but is not yet ready to play a match, while Bruno Martins Indi (groin) and Kostas Stafylidis (rib) are also expected to be sidelined.
Leon Britton and Angel Rangel will make their final Swansea appearances on Sunday. The long-serving pair will be on the bench for the last game of the season.
Midfielder Britton has announced he will be retiring after Sunday's game, while Spanish full-back Rangel is leaving Swansea after 11 years in south Wales.
Opta stats
Swansea have won just one of their last five Premier League games against Stoke (D1 L3), winning 2-0 in this exact fixture last season.
The home side has won nine of the 13 previous Premier League meetings between these two (D3 L1), with Stoke's 1-0 win at the Liberty Stadium in October 2015 the exception.
There has been at least one goal in the opening 15 minutes in each of the last five Premier League meetings between these sides.
The Swans collected 17 points in their first nine matches under Carlos Carvalhal (W5 D2 L2) - in their subsequent eight, they've collected just three (W0 D3 L5).
Should Stoke lose, they will finish bottom of any division for the first time since 1989-90 (24th in second tier).
Swansea could be relegated even with a victory in this game - they haven't been relegated from any division since 2000-01, when they finished 23rd in the third tier.
Since 1995-96 - the first Premier League season with 20 teams - only three teams starting the day 18th on the final day have survived, most recently Wigan in 2006-07 (also Bradford City in 1999-2000 and Everton in 1997-98).
Merson's predictions
It doesn't matter what happens here now. It's an absolute shocker for Swansea - and Stoke of course, as well. It's going to be a really strange atmosphere.
You'd like to think they'd both go for it and sign off with plenty of goals but I'll go for a narrow home win. It won't be enough, though.
PAUL PREDICTS: 2-1
