The Premier League weekend kicks off with two of its form sides as Roberto Martinez's Everton visit his former club Swansea City.
Many would have expected Everton to be the best of the rest this season and Swansea to be somewhere in the bottom half of the table, but it is the other way around heading into this fixture at the Liberty Stadium.
Swansea
© Getty Images
The Welsh club have won their last two games to climb to eighth in the table, with last weekend's 3-1 victory over Hull City their Premier League-best 13th win of the season.
Bafetimbi Gomis's double did the damage against the Tigers, and the Frenchman, who committed himself to the Swans this week, has three goals in his last two games.
More club records are expected to tumble between now and the end of the campaign as they look poised to record their highest ever Premier League points tally and better their ninth-place finish from 2012-13.
Swansea have not been out of the top half of the table all season, which is made even more remarkable considering that they were tipped to struggle under the guidance of the division's youngest manager.
However, Garry Monk, 36, has shown wisdom beyond his years to ensure that the Swans were never involved in the relegation battle and instead flirted with the European places prior to Christmas.
While they have never gone more than three games without victory this term, they could not reel together enough wins to maintain that challenge. The visit of Everton offers them a chance to record three successive triumphs for the first time since August.
Recent form: WWLLWW
Everton
© Getty Images
© Getty Images
Everton themselves registered three successive wins for the first time this season courtesy of their 1-0 victory over Southampton last Saturday.
Phil Jagielka's early goal was enough for the Toffees to overcome the Champions League hopefuls and climb to 11th in the table, although they have since been usurped by Crystal Palace.
Captain Jagielka has admitted that the momentum that Everton are building is coming too late in a disappointing season which has proven that they do not yet have the resources to balance the Premier League with continental competition.
Their run to the last 16 of the Europa League created for some memorable nights at Goodison Park, but Martinez's men have been unable to sustain their domestic standards and will not be playing in Europe again next season.
A top-half finish is still within their grasp as they chase 10th-placed Stoke City, who are currently five points ahead of them. The Merseysiders have not finished outside of the top 10 since 2005-06.
Recent form: DLLWWW
Recent form (all competitions): LWWLWW
Team News
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Swansea defender Kyle Naughton has been ruled out for the rest of the season following a heavy tackle by Hull's David Meyler. Long-serving Spaniard Angel Rangel is a more than able deputy at right-back.
Jack Cork is expected to recover from a knock to start for the hosts, and there are still question marks over Jefferson Montero's fitness so Monk may otherwise stick with the same starting lineup.
After missing the win over the Saints with a hamstring problem, Romelu Lukaku returned to Everton training this week and could take the place of Arouna Kone up front.
However, the Toffees are without Darron Gibson, whose hairline metatarsal fracture will prevent him from featuring again this campaign.
Martinez's main selection problems are posed by the attacking-midfield positions, where Steven Naismith may replace Leon Osman and Aaron Lennon could keep Kevin Mirallas on the bench as uncertainty over the Belgian's future grows.
Swansea possible starting lineup:
Fabianski; Rangel, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor; Ki, Cork, Shelvey; Sigurdsson, Routledge, Gomis
Everton possible starting lineup:
Howard; Coleman, Stones, Jagielka, Baines; Barry, McCarthy; Barkley, Naismith, Lennon; Lukaku
Head To Head
Yet to beat Everton in the league, Swansea have lost 13 and drawn six of their encounters with the Merseysiders, including November's goalless stalemate.
Their only ever victory over the Blues came earlier this season in the Capital One Cup third round as Gylfi Sigurdsson was among the scorers in a 3-0 success.
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Hit play below to see what the Sports Mole Sofa had to say about this encounter:
We say: Swansea 1-1 Everton
Both of these teams are in good form and could cancel each other out. The best chance of there being a winner is a dominant performance from one of the strikers, so much could depend on just how fit Lukaku is.
Joe Fish
