Tottenham vs. Swansea: Will Spurs’ dominance over Swans continue?
By Gary Pearson
Tottenham go into their home match on Saturday having never lost to Swansea in 12 Premier League matches, utterly dominating the head-to-head matchup.
Will the lopsided trend continue at Wembley on Saturday? It should do.
Recent head-to-head results
Spurs thrashed Swansea 5-0 at White Hart Lane and squeaked out a come-from-behind win at the death in Wales last season. Tottenham have historically bossed proceedings against the Welsh side, outscoring Swansea 17-7 in their last six matches. Tottenham have also outscored Swansea 7-1 in their two most recent home fixtures.
In 12 Premier League matches against Swansea, Tottenham have won 10 and drawn two, scoring at least two goals in each of the last seven encounters.
Of all the top flight clubs, Spurs enjoy playing Swansea most, obtaining their highest win percentage (83.3) and most goals per match (2.33).
Christian Eriksen has this match on his calendar circled, as the crafty Dane has scored six goals, adding four assists in seven Premier League games versus the Swans.
There is one last asymmetrical stat to throw your way. Tottenham lead the league with 79 shots while Swansea, with 26, are at the bottom of that statistical category.
While Paul Clement is unarguably a competent Premier League manager, he doesn’t have a match winner or the kind of leadership at his disposal to keep Spurs from winning their first home fixture of the season.
Club captain Leon Britton is a long-serving Swansea player, whose commitment to the cause cannot be balked at. But he doesn’t really possess the leadership qualities Premier League captains are regularly known for. Clement, in an astute piece of business, brought Wilfried Bony back to Swansea from Manchester City during the offseason. He is a match winner on his day, but Bony’s confidence is reeling after playing such an insignificant role during his brief stint with City.
Swansea endured an otherwise miserable offseason, losing the two players – Gylfi Sigurdsson to Everton and Fernando Llorente to Spurs – responsible for maintaining the club’s Premier League status.
Swansea’s season thus far
The Swans won their last away match, a big 2-0 result against fellow relegation favourites Crystal Palace. Those were Swansea’s only two goals of the season thus far. Only Crystal Palace and Bournemouth have scored fewer goals, a major area of distress for Clement and company.
The Welsh side prefer to attack down the right hand side of the pitch. About 40 percent of their attacking forays come from the right wing, usually patrolled by Kyle Naughton and, to some extent, Portugal’s Renato Sanches.
Strong in the air, Swansea wins 54 percent of all aerial duels. That’s the one statistical category in which they are superior to Spurs, who win about 45 percent of 50/50 aerial challenges.
Even with the relatively poor start in the Premier League at Wembley, Spurs have lost only one home match in 21 overall.
And now that Spurs are off the mark at Wembley, with a sterling 3-1 win against Dortmund in the Champions League on Wednesday, expect the Lilywhites to win on Saturday and extend their unbeaten streak against Swansea to 13 games.
While organized and resilient, Swansea should be no match for a Tottenham side brimming with confidence and replete with offensive weapons.