Swansea City Tipped To Suffer Devastating Derby Blow

Swansea City host Cardiff City in the South Wales Derby on Saturday in the early kick-off and one EFL pundit believes the home side will find it difficult to get a result from this game.

The Swans have struggled throughout the campaign and find themselves in an unwanted relegation battle so late in the campaign. Since Luke Williams was named as Michael Duff’s successor in the dugout, the club have managed to win just three games in 11 outings in the Championship.

This form has left the Welsh outfit merely five points above the relegation zone but with some very important matches on the horizon against Cardiff, Sheffield Wednesday and Queens Park Rangers which are now must-win games for the club.

In the reverse derby fixture back in September, Swansea City were bested at the Cardiff City Stadium. Ollie Tanner opened the scoring in the 71st minute before Wales national team captain Aaron Ramsey sealed the three points for the Bluebirds from the penalty spot close to the end.

Bizarrely, no team had ever managed to do the league double over their bitter rivals until the 2021/22 season when Russell Martin’s Swansea beat Cardiff 3-0 and 4-0 home and away before managing to repeat the trick in the following campaign.

However, the roles are now reversed. The Bluebirds are the side on form while the Swans are battling it out for survival lower down the table. Cardiff have never managed to win twice in the league against Swansea in one season but EFL pundit and former Leeds United man David Prutton believes there’s a first time for everything.

Writing in his EFL predictions column for Sky Sports, Prutton has called a 2-1 victory for the visitors at the Swansea.com Stadium.

“Swansea are only five points clear of the bottom three, so there is a lot riding on this fixture on top of local pride. They have never let Cardiff do the double over them in one season, and they won’t want to start now.

“But Cardiff are in really good form. Four wins on the spin has given them a sniff of the playoffs, and they have their tails up ahead of this short journey. I love this fixture and there is so much to play for. I think the Bluebirds have the form and they’ll edge it.”

Writer’s View

What adds spice to this game is that both teams need the three points and won’t solely be fighting for bragging rights. A failure to be victorious would move Swansea City even closer towards the dreaded drop zone, while Erol Bulut’s Cardiff will progress nearer to the top six with a win.

However, the visitors are certainly the favourites for the first time in several years. Bulut’s men are on a four-game winning streak and will be desperate to pile further misery on their Welsh rivals. But, it’s a derby, and anything can happen.

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