United favourites to beat Swansea and maintain 6 point lead over City

Swansea v Manchester United
Premier League
Liberty Stadium, Swansea
Sunday 23 December 2012
13:30 GMT

Manchester United have the chance to maintain a three point lead at the top of the table when the side travels to Swansea City for our last match before Christmas.

Swansea City Preview

The encouraging news for Man Utd ahead of the fixture is that Swansea haven’t had the best of times in the league this December with two defeats and a single win. They are mid-table at least two wins away from the European places and they have conceded a total of 14 goals which is the same as QPR in the bottom three.

Injuries and Suspensions

Swansea are definitely missing three players ahead of the match; Andrea Orlandi, Darnel Situ and Neil Taylor. Pablo Hernandez, Angel Rangel and Michel Vorm are all rated as 50/50 shots to be fit for the game with Rangel the closest to a return to first team action.

Manchester United Preview

We head into this game not having dropped a point in league matches this December. Our defence is still a problem with six goals conceded in those matches but this match gives us a chance to maintain the six point lead we have built up at the top of the table. We’re the top scorers away from home with 21 which is five more than Spurs who have 16.

Injuries and Suspensions

We have four key players who are all unlikely to play in this match, Anderson, Nani, Shinji Kagawa and Jonny Evans. Michael Carrick picked up a hamstring problem in the win over Sunderland but should be fit while Rafael is still doubtful. Nick Powell should be in line for a return to the squad as he missed the match at Reading with illness.

Swansea City v Manchester United Stats

Swansea have played seven games at home this season with three wins, four draws and two defeats. This suggests it will be hard for us to break them down but their defensive record at home suggests we should get chances to score.

United have one of the best away records in the league with seven wins and two defeats. We’ve conceded a worryingly high number of goals with 14 but the attack has been superb and will hopefully get the team out of any trouble yet again.

Head to Head: Swansea dominate the head-to-head record between the teams in Wales. Swansea have six wins while we have only one win with the other two matches ending in draws. Our win came last season in a 1-0 victory thanks to a goal from Javier Hernandez.

Recent Form

Swansea have played three, lost two and won one so far in December scoring and conceding five goals in the process. They went unbeaten through November with two wins and three draws including an away win at Newcastle.

We have a perfect record from our league fixtures this month including that win over Manchester City. The only setback last month was the away defeat to Norwich with wins in all of our other matches.

Swansea City v Manchester United Prediction

Considering our recent form and the resilience we are showing at the moment to win games it’s difficult to see anything other than a United win. We have some key injuries to players but Swansea have a track record this season of giving chances at home.

Prediction: Swansea City 1-2 Manchester United