Swansea v Southampton preview: Saints without Virgil van Dijk

Image: Southampton will still be without Virgil van Dijk for Tuesday's Premier League clash against Swansea.

Southampton will still be without Virgil van Dijk for Tuesday night's Premier League clash at Swansea.

The defender is missing with an ankle injury and there is still no time-frame for his return for Claude Puel's side, who sit 11th in the Premier League.

Swansea will be looking to put more distance between themselves and the bottom three following their shock 3-2 win at Liverpool in the last round of fixtures. Paul Clement's side sit 17th, two points clear of the drop zone going into the clash at the Liberty Stadium.

Get Sky Sports for £20

Upgrade now to watch all eight Sky Sports channels for only £20 for 12 months

Team news

Southampton players James Ward-Prowse, Jay Rodriguez, Charlie Austin, Jeremy Pied, Matt Targett and Alex McCarthy are all expected to be absent at the Liberty Stadium.

Advertisement

Saints boss Puel is expected to recall a host of first-team regulars after making 10 alterations for the 5-0 FA Cup thrashing at the Arsenal on Saturday.

Image: Saints won 1-0 in this fixture earlier in the season

Luciano Narsingh is available to make his Swansea debut on Tuesday night. The Holland winger has recovered from the calf problem which has troubled him since his £4m move from PSV Eindhoven, but Swans Paul Clement may be reluctant to change the side from the Liverpool win.

Also See:

Ki Sung-yueng returns to the squad after a calf problem, but Leon Britton and Oliver McBurnie are both unavailable.

Opta stats

Each of the last three Premier League meetings between these two sides at the Liberty Stadium have ended 1-0 to Southampton.

Southampton have only conceded three goals in their previous nine Premier League meetings with Swansea City.

Swansea City have conceded more goals in their last 10 Premier League matches (29) than Southampton have in their last 24 games in the competition (28).

This video is only available on Skysports.com.
Open to watch

The Swans will be looking for successive Premier League victories for the first time since May 2016, following their shock 3-2 win at Liverpool on MD22.

Paul Clement has won two of his three Premier League games in charge of Swansea City; equalling Bob Bradley's win tally during his 10-game spell at the club in the competition.

Swansea have lost their last three Premier League home games. They haven't lost four at home in succession within the top-flight before, whilst the last time they lost four home league games in a row was back in March 1991 in the third tier.

Merson's prediction

I have no idea what Claude Puel was thinking making 10 changes against Arsenal in the FA Cup. Saints has just beaten Liverpool in the EFL Cup semi-final, they can't win the league, they're not going to get into the top four and they're not going to be relegated - so why make the changes?

Image: Paul Clement's side are currently outside of the drop zone

Yes, Arsenal made wholesale changes but they brought in internationals. Puel needs to apologise to those kids for letting them get roasted like that, it was terrible. It doesn't bode well ahead of the trip to the Liberty, where Paul Clement, and his signings, are gradually getting back to the old Swansea. It's another must-win game in the battle for survival and I see the Swans winning.

PAUL PREDICTS: 2-1 (10/1 with Sky Bet)

Betting

Swansea are 21/10 with Sky Bet as Southampton are considered 13/10 favourites, while the draw is priced at 23/10. Shane Long is the favourite to score first at 5/1, with team-mate Jay Rodriguez in the same market. Fernando Llorente, who struck twice at Anfield last weekend, is 13/2 to net the opening goal at the Liberty.

There's also an additional round of Super 6, with £250,000 up for grabs for predicting six correct scores tonight.

Enter your predictions here.

Grab a NOW TV Sky Sports Day Pass and stay glued in to all the latest transfer news from Sky Sports HQ as the window draws in, all for just £6.99. No contract

Outbrain