Swansea City and Sunderland do battle in the Championship on Saturday having each ended their respective losing runs last time out.

As a result, they sit in 13th and eighth position in the standings respectively, with the home side four points adrift of the visitors.

Match preview

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While it is fair to say that Michael Duff probably has some supporters to win over, Swansea now appear to be on the right track under the former Barnsley boss.

After just three points came from his opening seven league matches, 15 points have been collected over the same amount of fixtures that have since followed.

Although they suffered back-to-back home defeats to Leicester City and Watford, the Swans bounced back with a 1-0 success at Blackburn Rovers last time out.

The clean sheet was as important as the result on some level as it represented just the third Championship shutout under Duff, and the Welsh side have now recorded 10 points from their last four away fixtures.

At home, it has been more of a mixed bag, yet Swansea have only failed to score on familiar territory on just one occasion this season, that being versus Watford last time out.

From Sunderland's perspective, it has been all or nothing for much of the season, with just one draw coming in their opening 14 fixtures.

A recent three-game losing streak has piled the pressure on Tony Mowbray, a period of six defeats in 13 games not what the Black Cats hierarchy would have expected after reaching the playoffs in 2022-23.

However, Sunderland came from behind to earn a 3-1 triumph over Norwich City last time out, putting them eighth and within three points of third position.

Despite losing their last two away fixtures, Sunderland remain with the fifth best record on their travels, highlighting the threat that they pose to Swansea at the weekend.

Team News

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Barring any fitness issues, Duff may be prepared to select the same Swansea starting lineup from the Blackburn game.

Arsenal loanee Charlie Patino replaced Jay Fulton on that occasion and supplied the assist for the decisive goal, while none of Swansea's injured contingent are in line to return.

Changes are also expected to be few and far between for Sunderland after they came from behind to see off Norwich.

Nazarii Rusyn, Luis Semedo and Mason Burstow are all competing to lead the frontline, the former potentially doing enough last time out to keep his spot.

Alex Pritchard will remain among the replacements unless Mowbray decides to hand a rest to Jobe Bellingham.

Swansea City possible starting lineup:
Rushworth; Ashby, Darling, Humphreys, Tymon; Grimes, Patino; Cullen, Paterson, Lowe; Yates

Sunderland possible starting lineup:
Patterson; Hume, O'Nien, Ballard, Huggins; Neil, Ekwah, Bellingham; Roberts, Rusyn, Clarke

We say: Swansea City 1-1 Sunderland

The inconsistency of both sides means that this is a difficult one to call. Although these two teams generally play on the front foot, we expect a tight contest, one which may end with a hard-earned share of the spoils.

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