TALKING TACTICS: Swans v Everton
10th April
Continuing our partnership with football statistics website WhoScored.com, here is a preview of this weekend's home clash with Everton.
Saturday's action kicks off with a bang at the Liberty in the lunchtime kick-off with two of the Premier League's in-form teams going head-to-head.
Garry Monk's men have taken 12 points from the last available 18 - a tally only Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea can better - while Everton have recorded three straight wins for the first time all season.
The Toffees, however, have struggled away from home this season, with only four wins from 16 games on the road and eight defeats from their last 10.
A win for the hosts would see Swansea achieve their highest ever Premier League points tally, which would be an astounding achievement with six games still to play. Swansea have had the form of Bafetimbi Gomis to thank for three of their four most recent wins, and Everton will have to be wary of the Frenchman come Saturday afternoon.
Gomis has made Wilfried Bony's departure all the more simple to deal with, netting four goals in his last five starts, including three in his last two. His brace at home to Hull last weekend was enough to earn him the WhoScored.com man of the match award, with a rating of 8.80. WhoScored's system uses over 200 statistics to compile a rating for every player based on the effect of their actions on the outcome of the game, and Gomis' input was patently the most important last Saturday.
With a statistically calculated strength according to WhoScored.com of 'finishing' - calculated as superior to the majority of other Premier League strikers - Gomis will be a great threat to the Everton goal, and he could be the difference. He is, in terms of the statistics on WhoScored.com, one of the most in-form strikers in the Premier League.
Roberto Martinez's side have far from a watertight defence, having kept only one clean sheet in their last 13 games on the road, conceding some 25 goals in that time. With Swansea having won this fixture 3-0 when the sides met in the Capital One Cup back in September, they should be confident of making history, as Monk has challenged them to do, by mid-afternoon on Saturday.
*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 editor-in-chief @alitweedale on Twitter.
