Numbers game: Swans v Forest
It is time to check out the key statistics as the Swans get set to face Nottingham Forest at the Liberty Stadium this afternoon (3pm).
Graham Potter’s men will look to continue their promising start to the season, but face a tough test against Aitor Karanka’s side.
SWANS
13 – Oli McBurnie has scored more Championship goals in 2018 than any other player, with nine goals for Barnsley last term and four for the Swans so far this season.
1 – The Swans have lost just one of their opening six Championship games. Since 1978-79, they have never gone six league games at the start of a season without being beaten, and they have lost only once on just three previous occasions in that time.
5 – Potter’s team have conceded only five goals in the Championship so far this season. Only two teams in the division can better that record – leaders Leeds (four goals) and second-placed Middlesbrough (two).
5 – Barrie McKay hopes to return to the Swans side after missing out at Millwall through illness. He scored five times for Forest last season before seeing his first-team opportunities dry up following a change of manager.
2 – Jefferson Montero assisted twice as a substitute in the 2-1 win at Millwall last time out, becoming the first Swans player to do so having come off the bench in a league game since February 2014, when Pablo Hernandez did it against Cardiff.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST
10 – Daryl Murphy has had a hand in 11 goals in 33 appearances for Forest in all competitions, and 10 of those have been in August or September (nine goals, one assist).
2 – Forest manager Karanka’s two managerial visits to Wales have both ended in defeat. He lost against Cardiff in October 2015 with Middlesbrough and April 2018 with Forest.
90 – Forest conceded a 90th-minute goal the last time they met the Swans, in the 2011 Championship play-off semi-final. In fact, there has been a 90th-minute goal scored in four of the last five meetings between the clubs, with the other game ending 0-0.
19 – Forest’s trophy cabinet is one of the most densely packed in the Championship, but it is 19 years since they competed in the top flight. The closest they have come in recent years was when they were beaten by the Swans in the 2010-11 play-offs.
16 – Forest have made no fewer than 16 signings since the end of last season as Karanka has reshaped the City Ground squad. Former West Brom midfielder Claudio Yacob is the most recent recruit, and could make his debut today.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
The Swans have met Nottingham Forest on 61 occasions stretching back to 1925, and it is the men from the City Ground who are just ahead when it comes to matches between the two clubs. They have 24 victories compared to the Swans’ 23, with 14 draws.
