Two of the Premier League’s undefeated sides meet when Swansea host Manchester United at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday (16:00 BST, live on Sky Sports).
Swansea finished in an excellent eighth position last season and are hopeful of achieving a similarly strong finish this time around. They have certainly made a very solid start to the season, with their opening-day draw at Chelsea followed by a win and a draw thereafter.
Garry Monk’s (pictured) side had the better of their trip to Sunderland last weekend and were disappointed to leave the Stadium of Light with just a single point to their name. Bafetimbi Gomis latched onto Kyle Naughton’s neat through-ball to put them ahead on the stroke of half-time, only for Sunderland to equalise through a well-taken goal on the hour mark.
Best Match Betting Odds
5/4 Man Utd (SkyBet, Betfred, William Hill, Paddy Power, Betfair Sportsbook)
12/5 Draw (Bet365, BetVictor, Betfred, Unibet)
27/10 Swansea (Coral)
It was the third time in three matches that Swansea had out-shot their opponents and while five points is perhaps a little less than they have deserved from their performances to date, Monk will nevertheless be highly encouraged by his side’s start. Their shot volumes, and the manner in which those shots have been shared around, bode well for the season ahead.
The arrival of Andre Ayew from Marseille has added another goal threat to an attacking-midfield line in which Glyfi Sigurdsson had previously been the only volume shooter. With the rapid Jefferson Montero in electrifying form down the left and Jonjo Shelvey bursting forward from midfield, Swansea now have a varied and potent attacking setup.
Monk looks to have a full squad to pick from heading into this match.
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Man Utd secured a return to Champions League football by finishing fourth in the Premier League last season. They have performed unconvincingly in the early weeks of the new campaign but still come into this game with seven points to their name.
Louis van Gaal’s side played out a dull 0-0 draw at home to Newcastle last weekend. They struck the post through a late Chris Smalling header but otherwise created little of note in a match in which they were largely restricted to long-range efforts. They performed better in midweek, defeating Club Brugge 4-0 to go through to the Champions League group stage.
United have been very strong defensively in all three of their league matches. They are yet to concede and have generally been able to limit their opponents to low-quality chances. The defensive-midfield shield formed by two from Bastian Schweinsteiger, Michael Carrick and Morgan Schneiderlin has provided good protection to a solid-looking back four.
They have not, however, been anywhere near as impressive in attack. While they notched seven goals across the two legs of their Champions League qualifier against Club Brugge, they have found scoring to be much tougher in the league. Adnan Januzaj’s strike in the win over Aston Villa currently represents their solitary league goal converted by one of their own.
Van Gaal is likely to be without the injured Marcos Rojo (match fitness) and Phil Jones (mild thrombosis). Marouane Fellaini returns from suspension and could make his first league appearance of the season.
Swansea v Man Utd Betting Tips
Swansea were victorious in both of last season’s matches between these sides but it is Man Utd who have the stronger record in this fixture in the five years since Swansea’s promotion to the Premier League in 2011. They have won five of the eight league meetings in that period, including victories at the Liberty Stadium in 2011 and 2013.
Swansea have performed impressively during the opening weeks of the season, fusing a solid defensive unit to an exciting attack that features a good variety of goal threats. They comfortably saw off Newcastle in their first home match of the campaign and having done the double over United last season will be hopeful of taking all three points here.
United have persevered with the heavily structured play that characterised the majority of their performances last season during the early weeks of the new campaign. While they have been very solid in defence, they have lacked a cutting edge in the final third and are expected to add to their attacking options before the end of the transfer window.
Swansea come into this match high on confidence and have a solid chance of taking all three points in what is likely to be tightly contested encounter. We do, however, believe that a draw is the most likely outcome.
- Back the draw @ best odds of 12/5 with Bet365, BetVictor, Betfred or Unibet.
- Gomis has scored in all three of Swansea’s league matches to date. United are yet to concede in the league but if Swansea are to score, then Gomis is likely to be the man to do it, especially if he can get himself up against Daley Blind – the smaller of United’s two centre-backs. Back Bafetimbi Gomis to score at anytime @ biggest betting odds of 5/2 with BoyleSports.
Premier League Betting Odds Comparison
Nick Dorrington is a specialist sports writer. He writes for Just Bookies on football & F1 motor racing. He is a renowned columnist, having written for The Independent, ESPN, The Bleacher Report, USA Betting, Stats Bomb & more.