Match Preview | Swansea City (A)

All the information you need ahead of the Hatters' 3pm kick-off at the Liberty Stadium

4 December 2020

The Hatters head to South Wales for the second successive Saturday tomorrow when Nathan Jones and his team take on Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium.

The Town put last Saturday's 4-0 reversal at Cardiff City behind them on Wednesday night, when 1,000 supporters returned to Kenilworth Road to see goals from George Moncur, Matty Pearson and James Collins earn a 3-1 win over top-of-the-table Norwich.

That win lifted the Hatters back up to 11th place in the table with 22 points from 15 matches - a total that took 29 games to reach last season, the club's first back in the Championship.

Tomorrow's hosts, who lost in the play-offs last season, are four points better off in seventh position, but were beaten 2-1 in their last fixture at Middlesbrough on Wednesday night.

Nathan Jones said:

(Please note these quotes are taken from Nathan’s post-match press conference on Wednesday)

On his desire for a repeat of the midweek performance: "Yes, and what I hope is that we don't ever repeat the Cardiff one!"

On Swansea's threat: "They are a good side and two years ago they were in the Premier League. They had a good season under Graham Potter and a fantastic season under Coops when they got into the play-offs last year. They've signed well and want to build again this year, so they are a good side. But when have you ever stood there and said it'll be an easy one for you on the weekend in the Championship? There are no easy games, and everything is different. They play a different shape. They play a similar way, but they'll be a different shape, and coupled with an unbelievable journey that we'll have to face on Friday, there is no rest or respite. We've just got to plough on."

On George Moncur: "I make no bones about it, he would have a host of League One clubs wanting to take him. I said, ‘You can keep taking the easy option and going back to League One and being the best player in League One, or you can knuckle down, dedicate yourself and start impacting on the Championship.’ In the Championship you can't carry passengers, we can’t carry a passenger. George is now contributing massively out of possession and then still doing the things he is in possession, so now we’ve got a proper player on our hands.”

Who?

The Swans were relegated from the Premier League in 2018 after a seven-year stay, registering tenth and sixth place finishes in the Championship over the last two seasons ending in a play-off semi-final defeat to Brentford.

Swansea’s last piece of silverware came in 2013 as they were crowned League Cup winners, beating League Two side Bradford City in the final.

The Manager – Steve Cooper

The 40-year-old started his coaching career in Wrexham's academy before moving to Liverpool in 2008. Welshman Cooper became the Reds' academy manager in 2011, then joined the FA three years later, initially coaching the Under-16s before leading the U17s to 2017 FIFA U17 World Cup glory.

The former Wrexham, TNS, Bangor City and Porthmadog centre-half took over as Swansea head coach in 2019, after Graham Potter left to take over at Brighton.

Main threat – Andre Ayew

The 30-year-old Ghana international has six goals to his name so far this season for the Swans, plus two for his country in a friendly against Qatar.

The striker has vast experience of European football, having started his career at Marseilles where his famous father, Abedi 'Pele' Ayew, and brother Jordan also played.

Signed for Swansea initially in 2015, before a £20m transfer to West Ham in 2016. He returned to the Liberty two years later for almost the same amount, but spent time on loan at Fenerbahce in 2018-19. Has 91 caps for Ghana.

When and where?

Kick-off is 3pm at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday 4th December.

Man in the middle?

The referee for Saturday’s fixture is Leigh Doughty, who was promoted to the Championship for this season after one campaign taking charge of League Two and One matches. He has shown 27 yellow cards this term, but is yet to send a player off.

Played before?

The two sides last met in June at the Liberty Stadium in what was Nathan Jones' second game back in charge of the Town. A second-half James Collins header proved the difference on that day, as the Hatters picked up a vital three points towards The Great Escape with a 1-0 win.

In the reverse fixture at Kenilworth Road, Ayew scored a late goal to boost the Swans' promotion hunt.

Follow the action

Away games on a Saturday are not available free to season ticket holders this season, but we hope as many supporters as possible will get behind the lads from home with a £10 match pass which are on sale now.

All of the money from every match pass sold comes directly back to the Club and is a valuable source of revenue as matches continue with limited crowds permitted to home matches. We are very grateful for your support by watching on iFollow when you are unable to attend matches in person.

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Match Report | Swansea City 2 - 0 Luton Town

The Hatters fall to defeat at the Liberty Stadium...

5 December 2020

The Hatters put in a spirited performance at promotion hopefuls Swansea City this afternoon, but ultimately fell to a second successive Saturday defeat in south Wales.

Swansea won 2-0 with goals in the second and 89th minutes, but the Hatters controlled large parts of the match at the Liberty Stadium despite being reduced to ten men when Matty Pearson was sent off with 20 minutes to go.

The result sees the Hatters drop to 12th position in the Sky Bet Championship following defeat but they definitely won't be downhearted given the level of performance.

Manager Nathan Jones made two changes to the side that beat table-toppers Norwich in midweek, with both full-backs Dan Potts and James Bree making their first starts in the league this season in place of Rhys Norrington-Davies and Martin Cranie – the latter who suffered an injury in midweek, with the young Welshman rested.

Youngster Dion Pereira was named amongst the substitutes for the first time since joining the Hatters on a free transfer after leaving Atlanta United.

The hosts were in front inside two minutes when they worked the ball in from the right touchline to Andre Ayew, who laid it back into the path of Connor Roberts, whose shot took a deflection on its way into the top corner from just inside the area.

The Hatters gathered themselves, but were grateful that centre-half Ben Cabango directed a far post header straight at James Shea when goalscorer Roberts found him with an 11th-minute free-kick.

Jones made a tactical switch just after the quarter-of-an-hour mark, matching up Swansea's 3-5-2 by dropping Glen Rea into the middle of a back three and pushing Jordan Clark up front alongside Collins.

It almost paid immediate dividend when Clark laid Matty Pearson's pass off to George Moncur 30 yards from goal. Wednesday's opening goalscorer took a couple of paces towards the hosts' box and bent in a shot that kicked up off a surface that had been heavily watered just before kick-off, and had to be pushed onto the post by keeper Freddie Woodman.

Tom Lockyer, now playing on the right of the three centre-halves, then drove forward into Clark's previous right wing area and whipped in a cross that found James Collins' head, but the top scorer couldn't get a clean enough connection to send it goalward.

Town were now in the ascendancy and should have been level on 26 minutes when Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall's pressing forced Ayew into a loose pass back towards his own touchline, which freed Clark to cross low into the six-yard box. Cabango and Woodman reacted to cut it out, but the ball fell kindly for Luke Berry, who side-footed over with the goal at his mercy eight yards out.

Other than a 43rd-minute effort from Yan Dhanda that Shea dealt with comfortably, the Hatters dominated controlled the remainder of the half without being able to find the finish that would bring them back on terms going into the break.

The first real incidents of the second half saw Rea and Pearson both booked for a late lunges on Ayew, before Jones made a double substitution just after the hour, bringing Harry Cornick and Elliot Lee on for Dewsbury-Hall and Moncur.

Again, the switch almost paid off immediately when Lockyer swung a deep cross in to the City six-yard box onto Cornick's head, but the ball flew just wide of Woodman's right post.

The Town were well on top when they were reduced to ten men with just over 20 minutes to go, as Pearson attempted an overhead kick in the Swansea penalty area on 68 minutes, but home defender Marc Guehi got his head to the ball first before Pearson's boot connected with it.

Referee Leigh Doughty took two minutes before showing the Hatters defender a second yellow, resulting in the Town's first red card since James Collins was dismissed against Blackpool in April 2019.

Despite being a man down, it was Jones' side who continued to ask questions, City needing Ayew to clear off the line as Rea met Bree's 76th-minute corner with a thumping header.

Kazenga LuaLua was introduced for Berry with just under ten minutes of normal time to play, but despite the Hatters controlling possession and playing well, it was Ayew who sealed the points with a 20-yard shot into the bottom corner in the 89th minute.

Town: Shea, Bree, Pearson, Lockyer, Potts; Rea, Berry (LuaLua 82), Dewsbury-Hall (Cornick 62); Clark, Moncur (Lee 62); Collins.

Substitutes: Isted, Tunnicliffe, Galloway, Nombe, Morrell, Pereira.

Yellows: Rea, Pearson

Red: Pearson

Swansea: Woodman, Naughton, Guehi (Latibeaudiere 83), Cabango; Roberts, Cullen (Lowe 71), Grimes, Smith, Bidwell; Dhanda (Palmer 71), Ayew.

Substitutes: Benda, Manning, Fulton, Gyokeres, Routledge, Garrick

Goals: Roberts 2, Ayew 89

Yellows: Roberts

Referee: Leigh Doughty