Swansea v Aston Villa preview: Andre Ayew to miss reunion with brother Jordan

By Raz Mirza

Andre Ayew will miss Swansea's Premier League home game against Aston Villa and a reunion with his brother Jordan as they look to take another step towards securing top-flight safety.

Rock-bottom Villa are nine points adrift of safety with eight matches remaining having won only three Premier League games all season, while Swansea could move 11-points clear of the bottom three by completing a season's double at the Liberty Stadium, live on Saturday Night Football from 5.30pm.

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Francesco Guidolin will be back in the dugout for Villa's visit after missing the last three matches following a chest infection.

Image: Andre Ayew (pictured) will miss a reunion with his brother Jordan

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Swansea boss Francesco Guidolin says he will be back in the dugout for Saturday's game against Aston Villa after illness

Andre Ayew sat out last weekend's 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth and Swansea hope their leading eight-goal marksman will be fit straight after the international break, while Jefferson Montero should return to the bench after a bout of flu.

Carlos Sanchez is available for Villa after being out for the last two months with a hamstring injury.

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Image: Carlos Sanchez is available for Villa

The midfielder has not played since Villa's FA Cup replay win against Wycombe in January and will be in Remi Garde's squad for Saturday's trip to Swansea.

Adama Traore (foot) and Jack Grealish (ankle) are close to a return and could make their comeback after the international break but Libor Kozak (ankle) is not expected back soon while Jordan Amavi (knee) is out for the season.

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Swansea City are unbeaten in their last six Premier League games against Aston Villa (W4 D2), winning the last four in a row.

Both Jordan Ayew and Andre Ayew netted in this fixture back in October, becoming the first brothers to score for opposing sides in the same match in Premier League history.

Image: Gylfi Sigurdsson has scored seven times in his last 11 games

Swansea have won just three of their last 13 league matches at Liberty Stadium (D5 L5).

Swansea fans have seen their team score just six goals in the last eight Premier League matches played at Liberty Stadium, although Villa have picked up just three points from the last 42 available on the road in the Premier League (W0 D3 L11).

Merson's predictions

Remi Garde says Villa fans need to get behind the team as they try to avoid relegation from the Premier League

I can't see Aston Villa getting anything out of this game. It's just a matter of time before they are relegated and Swansea will move them a step closer to the Championship with victory at the Liberty.

In the process, Swansea should confirm their top-flight status by taking all three points against the bottom side.

PAUL PREDICTS: 2-0 (Sky Bet's odds: 11/2)

Betting

Swansea are just 8/13 to heap further misery of their visitors, who are given a 19/4 chance of a victory and are 11/4 just to secure a draw. Garde's men are considered all but relegated at 150/1 to stay up, while their hosts will be looking to extinguish any lingering fears of facing the drop, with Sky Bet currently making them 18/1 chances to go down. In-form Gylfi Sigurdsson looks the pick from the first goalscorer market at 5/1, having netted seven times in his last 11 appearances.

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