Monday 26 December 2016 13:53, UK
West Ham will be searching for a third straight Premier League win when they travel to the Liberty Stadium to face Swansea on Boxing Day.
Back-to-back 1-0 wins for Slaven Bilic's side against Burnley and Hull have seen them rise to 13th in the table and they will be looking to further improve their league position with a first win at Swansea since 1983.
Swansea, who are struggling in 19th position, come into this contest on the back of two consecutive away defeats to West Brom and Middlesbrough.
Bob Bradley's side though have enjoyed a good recent record on Boxing Day beating Aston Villa in 2014 and West Brom in 2015 - both by 1-0 scorelines - and the American will be hoping for a repeat performance from his side.
Team news
Swansea have Federico Fernandez and Sung-Yueng Ki available after both recovered from broken toes.
Fernandez is a real contender to return in central defence on the back of Swansea conceding six goals in defeats at West Brom and Middlesbrough.
Ki might have to settle for a place on the bench, but Kyle Naughton and Jack Cork are possible options with under-pressure manager Bradley considering changes.
West Ham will be without Diafra Sakho after Bilic confirmed that the striker could be out for six to eight weeks due to a back injury.
The Senegal international has only made two appearances during his injury-plagued season and was substituted during the draw against Manchester United last month.
Midfielder Gokhan Tore is still out with a knee problem, Pedro Obiang is suspended and Reece Oxford (ankle) and Simone Zaza (knee) remain sidelined, while defender James Collins is a doubt as he continues his recovery from a muscular injury.
Opta stats
Swansea beat West Ham 4-1 in May, their only win in their last seven Premier League fixtures against the Hammers (D3 L3).
Swansea have won consecutive Boxing Day fixtures for the first time since 2007, beating Aston Villa in 2014 and West Brom in 2015 - both by 1-0 scorelines.
This will be the third occasion that Swansea and West Ham play each other on Boxing Day; with the Hammers unbeaten in both previous clashes (winning 3-0 in 1949 and drawing 1-1 in 1933).
Swansea only had three points more after 17 Premier League games of 2015/16 (15) than they currently have this season (12) - they ended in 12th place last season.
West Ham have lost twice as many Premier League games this season (eight) as they had at this stage in both 2015/16 and 2014/15.
The Hammers have kept a clean sheet in their last two Premier League games - they last kept three in a row in the competition in December 2015.
Merson's predictions
Swansea have to win this game, it's as simple as that. If you look at their last two home games they've scored three and four goals. I watched West Ham get the biggest run around ever the other day against Hull, if they'd have lost by four or five goals there could have been no complaints. This is a cup final for Swansea if they want to stay in touch at the bottom.
PAUL PREDICTS: 2-1 (Sky Bet odds 17/2)
Betting
Sky Bet are struggling to split these two, with Swansea 6/4 for Boxing Day success at the Liberty, and West Ham a fraction bigger at 17/10 with the draw 5/2. Either side can be backed at 11/4 to win 1-0, 2-0 or 2-1 in what could well be a tight encounter. There are also plenty of tightly-packed contenders at the top of the first goalscorer market with Fernando Llorente and Gylfi Sigurdsson both 5/1, Andy Carroll 11/2 and Dimitri Payet 13/2.
