Championship

Swansea.com Stadium

Wednesday 20th October 2021 -  19:45
Swansea
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West Brom
Stream on WBA TV
Key Events

Swansea preview

Albion will set their sights on securing another three Sky Bet Championship points when they travel to South Wales for a showdown with Swansea City on Wednesday night (ko 7.45pm).

The Baggies edged past Birmingham City on Friday thanks to Karlan Grant’s fourth goal in as many games, keeping them second in the table.

The Swans will be high on confidence after demolishing rivals Cardiff City 3-0 at the Swansea.com Stadium on Sunday – their second consecutive victory on home soil.

How to follow the game

You can listen live to Swansea City vs Albion on WBA TV Matchday. Seasonal and monthly subscribers automatically get access to the game and a full match replay. If you’re not going to South Wales and don’t want to miss a moment you can buy an audio match pass for just £2.50.

Click here to buy a Match Pass. Live commentary will be available from 7.30pm here.

WBA TV Matchday

Opposition

Swansea City are starting to turn a corner after a slow start to the 2021/22 Sky Bet Championship season.

The Swans, who were beaten in the play-off final by Brentford in May, won just one of their opening eight matches, but recent home wins over Huddersfield and Cardiff have kick-started their campaign.

Wednesday’s hosts have only tasted one league loss in their last seven games, and that was at the hands of promotion-chasing Fulham at the back end of September. 

Former Scotland international and Norwich City defender Russell Martin was appointed boss in the summer after a successful stint with MK Dons, taking over from the departing Steve Cooper.

Martin made well over 500 senior appearances for various clubs and his nation during a 15-year playing career, stepping into management at Stadium MK in November 2019. 

On the playing front, young Dutchman Joel Piroe has impressed since joining in July from PSV, scoring seven goals in total, including one against rivals Cardiff on Sunday afternoon.

22-year-old Joel Piroe has been in fine form for Swansea

Classic match

Albion earned three crucial Premier League points in March 2014, winning 2-1 against the Swans in Wales.

Roland Lamah gave the hosts a second-minute lead, but the Baggies equalised shortly after the break through Stephane Sessegnon. 

And with the game heading for a draw, Youssouf Mulumbu popped up with a huge goal five minutes from the end to send the travelling fans wild behind the goal.

Did you know?

Albion’s last visit to Swansea City was the final game either team played before COVID-19 brought the world to an abrupt halt.

The match finished goalless on Saturday, March 7. Swansea and the Baggies would not play a Sky Bet Championship fixture for another three-and-a-half months following the stalemate in South Wales.

Away kit colours

The Baggies are back in black on Wednesday night.

Not got your away kit yet. Fear not. You can order it here.

Matt Phillips and Karlan Grant at Blackburn

LV BET's latest odds

Albion are priced at  49/50 (1.98) to beat the Swans and secure their eighth win of the season.

After scoring four goals in his last four appearances, Karlan Grant measures up at 33/20 (2.65) to find the back of the net at any time on Wednesday.

The Baggies have scored eleven goals against Swansea City in their last five encounters (W3 D2), averaging 2.2 a game. LV BET is offering over 1.5 goals for West Bromwich Albion at 21/20 (2.05).

LV BET has a new customer Bet £10 Get £10 offer here. 18+ begambleaware.org. Terms apply. Odds are subject to change.

LV BET

Swansea report

Albion suffered their second defeat of the season in the Sky Bet Championship against Swansea City on Wednesday night.

The Baggies took the lead through in-form forward Karlan Grant’s sixth goal of the season in the first minute of the game. But the hosts produced a rejuvenated display to turn the game around after the break.

Striker Joël Piroe slotted in the City equaliser, and a fine individual effort from Jamie Paterson secured all three points for Russell Martin’s men in South Wales.

Valérien Ismaël made one enforced change to his starting XI with Jayson Molumby replacing Alex Mowatt who missed out with an ongoing foot injury.

And Albion got off to another flying start in South Wales, scoring after 52 seconds when their high line won them the ball inside Swansea's box, before Callum Robinson cleverly slid the ball across the box for Grant to slam under Ben Hamer - his fifth goal in as many games and sixth of the campaign.

Captain Jake Livermore set the tone for Valérien Ismaël’s men, pouncing on a misplaced  Swansea pass to begin a fast-paced move which saw Matt Phillips find Callum Robinson who found Grant with the in-form striker on hand to coolly finish from eight yards out.

The skipper had a chance to double the lead on 17 minutes but was unable to get over a right-foot half-volley and flashed over from eight yards.

Chances were few and far between for much of the first half but it was the Baggies who carved out another 10 minutes before the break, with Phillips stinging the gloves of Ben Hamer from 15 yards, following a driving run into the City penalty area.

The Baggies started the second half brightly and almost made it 2-0 when Matt Clarke headed just wide of the near post from Darnell Furlong’s right-wing cross.

Livermore went closer still two minutes later, forcing a good save from Hamer with a driven right-foot strike from 25 yards.

Swansea created their first clear-cut chance of the game on 53 minutes. Paterson found Olivier Ntcham with a lofted, diagonal pass but the half-time substitute blasted wide of the back post. 

The hosts were level on the hour mark with Piroe breaking free behind the Baggies back four before finding a clinical finish to fire past Sam Johnstone.

Swans stopper Hamer pulled off a stunning save to push Phillips’ fierce 30-yard effort onto the bar and over with 20 minutes to go.

But Albion were made to rue their opponents' second-half dominance when Darnell Furlong’s short back-pass to Semi Ajayi was pounced on by Paterson, who burst forward before poking the ball through Kyle Bartley’s legs and firing under Johnstone to wrap up the points for City.

Albion: Johnstone; Ajayi, Bartley, Clarke; Furlong, Livermore (c), Molumby (Snodgrass 79), Townsend; Phillips (Reach 84), Robinson (Hugill 56), Grant.

Subs: Button; Kipré, Bryan, Gardner-Hickman.