TALKING TACTICS: West Brom v Swans

14th December

Ahead of the Premier League meeting with West Brom at The Hawthorns, we have teamed up with football stats experts WhoScored.com to preview this evening's encounter.

The Swans were in flying form on Saturday as they ran out 3-0 winners at Sunderland's expense.
Bob Bradley's side have now lost just one of their last four Premier League games and confidence will be high ahead of Wednesday's visit to The Hawthorns.
Indeed, Swansea have won three of their last six competitive trips to the Baggies and were desperately unlucky not to have secured all three points in this match last season, with a late Salomon Rondon goal ensuring the spoils were shared.



That being said, Bradley has at his disposal a striker in fine form.
A brace in the 3-0 win over Sunderland means summer arrival Fernando Llorente has scored four goals in his last three Premier League appearances.
A WhoScored.com rating of 9.07 not only earned him the man-of-the-match award in the victory over the Black Cats, but gained the Spaniard a place in WhoScored.com's Premier League team of the week.
Bradley will now hope he can churn out another match-winning performance at West Brom, in what is expected to be a physically-demanding contest in the Midlands.
The Baggies have been impressive under Tony Pulis of late, who has made his side a tough one to break down. Nevertheless, they have conceded ten league goals at home in the Premier League this season and have kept just one clean sheet in their last five in front of their fans.



The Baggies have developed a statistically-calculated WhoScored.com weakness of 'avoiding fouling in dangerous areas' and it's here where Swansea can capitalise.
One of Llorente's two strengths is 'headed attempts'. If Swansea can utilise the 31-year-old's strength in the air from dead-ball situations, then West Brom will have a tough time keeping the striker quiet.
Only a handful of teams have scored more goals from set piece situations than Swansea (seven) in the Premier League this season, with Bradley's side a threat from free-kicks and corners.
It only increases the pressure on centre-back Gareth McAuley to keep Llorente at bay.
The experienced defender is far and away West Brom's best-rated player this season with a WhoScored.com rating of 7.21, while his solitary strength is 'aerial duels'.
This match-up is likely to determine which side comes out on top at The Hawthorns and if Llorente is capable of getting the better of his Northern Irish counterpart, then Swansea can make it back-to-back league wins at West Brom's expense.



*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.


Swans supporters can pay on the day at West Brom.
Tickets will be available at the away kiosk next to the away turnstiles, and are priced:
£25: Adults
£20: Over-60s
£15: Under 22s & student
£10: Under-17s

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