Scouting report

Matty Briggs discovers some chinks in Swansea's armoury in his Bradford scouting report.

Ahead of Sunday's Capital One Cup final at Wembley Matty Briggs has been cast in the role of Bradford City chief scout as he looks to find possible weaknesses in Michael Laudrup's classy Swansea City outfit. The Bantams' journey to the home of football has been arguably the story of the season and while Phil Parkinson's side will start the game as real outsiders, our man in the stand believes there are reasons to be optimistic for the League Two promotion hopefuls.

Swansea City scout report

Premier League position: 8th - W 10, D 9 L 8. Formation: 4-2-3-1 Probable line-up: Vorm, Rangel, Williams, Monk, Davies; Ki, De Guzman; Dyer, Hernandez, Routledge; Michu.

Overview

Swansea were comprehensively beaten 5-0 by Liverpool at Anfield last Sunday, but the performance and result can be disregarded. Michael Laudrup made seven changes to his starting line-up - leaving out star striker Michu, centre-back Ashley Williams and widemen Nathan Dyer and Wayne Routledge. Swansea were totally outplayed and the scoreline did not flatter Liverpool, who had 35 shots on goal - a Premier League record this season. Laudrup claimed he was 'embarrassed' and apologised to the fans for the performance, but there will be a strong desire to put that display behind them against Bradford at Wembley.

Dangermen

Michu The 6ft 3in striker has scored 17 goals this season and is Swansea's most potent threat. He is strong in the air, has an excellent chance conversion rate and possesses good hold up play. He doesn't venture away from the centre of field much and is heavily reliant on service provided from his team-mates. The targetman does like to drop into deep positions and help out his midfield, but he can be prone to giving away free-kicks when doing so. Nathan Dyer A right winger with terrific pace who has netted four goals so far this season. Despite being a wideman he does not provide a prolific amount of crosses, but likes to cut inside and often looks for short passes. He is a dangerous dribbler, direct in style and his speed enables his to skip past opponents with ease. He is a potent attacking force, who wins more than his fair share of free-kicks, but he does work back to help his defence and does like a tackle. Wayne Routledge Another diminutive winger, who usually plays on the left. He has five goals this term and his finest asset is his blistering pace. He has three assists in the Premier League this season, and like Dyer, he naturally drifts inside looking to link-up with Michu, Jonathan de Guzman and Pablo Hernandez. He is not as keen to track back as his opposite winger though and aerially he can be found wanting.

Team characteristics

Swansea sit in eighth place in the Premier League and average around 56 per cent possession in their league games, but the majority of that possession is inside their own half. They have scored first in 10 of their 27 games and have managed to win nine of the 10 they have scored first in. They are a difficult side to overhaul once they get into a lead due to their possession football. They have though failed to score 11 times in those 27 Premier League games - a league high - including six times in their last eight games in all competitions. They have scored three goals from set-pieces in the