Two teams that are below the red line are clashing against one another on Saturday, when Swansea will be hosting Sunderland in a Premier League match. Sunderland have been steadily improving lately, but they still have a lot more to do in order to get our of the red zone. Swansea are the disappointment of the season so far, and they should find it very hard to avoid relegation.
Swansea (2-9-3) are coming off a harsh defeat, as they were demolished by Tottenham by 0-5 on the road. That defeat came after a 4-5 win against Crystal Palace at home, and a 1-1 draw against Everton on the road prior to that. That was the only time this season that Swansea managed to record consecutive successful results, as the team has really underperformed so far in the season. The club even changed their manager, but new coach Bob Bradley is still unable to steer the ship in the right direction. The team is mostly hurting in the defensive end, as they have already conceded 19 goals in 7 matches since Bradley arrived, while they have conceded 31 goals after 14 league matches, which is the worst defense in the league. Seeing that they have conceded an average of 2.7 Goals since Bradley arrived, the new coach must somehow find a way to patch up his defense in order to try to pull themselves out of the red zone. They are sitting at the bottom of the Premier League with 9 points, 2 points behind Hull and Sunderland. They have the worst home record in the league (1-4-2), and of course the worst home defense in the league, having conceded 16 goals against 10 scored. They will only have a single injury concern for this match, as Ki Sung-Yong is still nursing an ankle injury.
On the other hand, Sunderland (3-9-2) have been one of the struggling teams so far in the season, expecially at the start of it, as they went on winless win their first 10 league matches. They did win a couple of matches in that span, for the EFL Cup, where they were eliminated by Southampton at the next round. However, the team has managed to strike some form lately, as they have won 3 of their last 4 matches. They did lose to Liverpool by 0-2 on the road in between those wins, but Sunderland look like they have been rejuvenated, as coach David Moyes has manged to save his job (at least for now). Still, Sunderland need to continue their positive results, as they are sitting just below the red line with 11 points, just as many as Hull below them, and 2 points ahead of their upcoming opponents. Winning here could even bump them 5 spots upwards in the standings if results go their way, so it’s not like the season is lost for them. What better opponent to have up against them than the bottom placed Swansea, who are conceding a ton of goals lately. However, they will have numerous injury concerns ahead of this match, as Cattermole, Gooch, McNair, Rodwell and Watmore are all suffering from injuries and are still listed as unavailable.