TALKING TACTICS: Liverpool v Swans
21st January
Ahead of the Premier League meeting with Liverpool at Anfield, we have teamed up with football stats experts WhoScored.com to preview this afternoon's encounter.
It's been a busy few days for the Swans in the transfer market as head coach Paul Clement looks to make sufficient improvements to his squad.
Following the capture of Luciano Narsingh last week, Swansea have since added Martin Olsson and Tom Carroll to the squad in a bid to move up the Premier League table.
For the latter, it's a welcome return to the Liberty Stadium after his permanent signing was confirmed this week.
Carroll spent time on loan with the Swansea earlier in his career, making eight league starts and a further five substitute appearances to earn a WhoScored.com rating of 6.39.
Clement will hope the 24-year-old can bring composure to the Swansea midfield to reinforce his statistically-calculated WhoScored.com strength of 'passing'.
During his loan spell with the club he made more passes per 90 (66.5) minutes than any other Swansea player to make more than one league appearance in the 2014/15 campaign.
Clement will look to Carroll to set the tempo at Anfield in Saturday's early kick off. With Liverpool looking to play in the opposition half and press where possible, this only increases Carroll's importance on Merseyside.
Having already faced off against Liverpool on Merseyside once this season, the midfielder is aware of what it takes to get the better of the Reds.
It's all the more vital when it comes to denying Georginio Wijnaldum from maximising his goalscoring quality.
The Dutchman may only have two Premier League goals to his name following his summer arrival from Newcastle, but the 26-year-old is improving each week and Swansea need to be wary of the attacking threat he carries from deep.
Of the 13 Premier League goals Wijnaldum has scored, all have been scored on home turf - 11 at St. James' Park for Newcastle and two for Liverpool at Anfield - and that should serve as a warning to Swansea.
His ball-winning tendencies and ability to successfully retain possession are two further qualities to Wijnaldum's game, which highlights his all-round effectiveness in the middle of the park.
If Swansea are to come away from Anfield with a positive result, Carroll could well have a key role to play to deny Wijnaldum and minimise the attacking pressure on the Swansea goal.
If the midfielder can keep the ball away from the Liverpool forward line, then the Swans have a much higher chance of attaining a positive result at Anfield.
*WhoScored.com is a unique website and one of the fastest growing in the sports industry, specialising in the in-depth analysis of detailed football data. Provided with unique stats, they compile and create comprehensive analysis on the major European divisions, including live match stats and player ratings. You can follow @WhoScored and their editorial officer Ben McAleer on Twitter.
