Early Championship pace-setters Swansea City host Wrexham in an all-Welsh clash on Saturday evening, with both sides looking to build further on midweek wins, as they look to accumulate the points in the early running of the Championship.
Wrexham played out two draws in the Championship in their opening two games -- 1-1 with Cardiff City and 1-1 with Watford -- before losing 2-1 to Birmingham City at home over the weekend. With some pressure building on Phil Parkinson, Wrexham produced a morale-lifting performance in a 3-0 win at Millwall on Wednesday night, but they can't rest on their laurels too long, with this big game against Swansea coming just three nights later.
Swansea have won three out of their four Championship games this season, with a 0-0 draw against Sheffield United being the only blip in their league record season. Vitor Matos's team were comfortable against Watford in midweek, as they won 2-0 to continue to lead the Championship in the early running, although only goal difference separates them from Queen's Park Rangers and Charlton Athletic at the moment.
Here's everything you need to know about the match.
How to watch:
The match will be available to watch on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football in the U.K., Paramount+ in the U.S., FanCode in India, and BeIN Sports in Australia. You can also follow ESPN's live updates here.
Key Details:
Date, kick-off time:
UK BST: Saturday, September 5, 8:00 p.m
U.S. ET: Saturday, September 5, 3:00 p.m.
India IST: Sunday, September 6, 12:30 a.m.
Australia AEST: Sunday, September 6, 5:00 a.m.
Venue: Swansea.com Stadium, Swansea, Wales
Referee: Elliot Bell
Predicted XIs:
Swansea City
Lawrence Vigouroux
Josh Key | Filip Lissah | Stephen Welsh | Josh Tymon
Elijah Just | Stephen Eustáquio | Marko Stamenic
Joseph Opoku | Adam Idah | Eom Ji-Sung
Wrexham
Anthony Patterson
Max Cleworth | Dominic Hyam | Callum Doyle
Issa Kaboré | Ben Whiteman | Matty James | Jacques Ekomie
Josh Windass | Lewis O'Brien
Kieffer Moore
Talking Points:
Wrexham must build on big Millwall win
After the loss to Birmingham last Friday night, Parkinson said he was shellshocked by Wrexham's defending, while bemoaning their entire performance. His players provided the perfect response to those comments with an outstanding display against Millwall on Wednesday night.
However, that result would just be a flash in the pan if Wrexham can't follow it up with a string of good performances and results. It won't be easy, as Wrexham follow up this game against Swansea with games against Burnley, West Ham United and Southampton. However, if Wrexham do get a win in this game, then that builds confidence even more, and it ensures momentum on their side to tackle a tricky set of fixtures after this.
Monga adds to Swans firepower to go with solid defence
Swansea have conceded just one goal in four league matches so far. Every other team in the Championship has conceded at least three so far. It is the Swans' defensive prowess that has led them to this excellent start to the season. However, they've only scored seven goals in four games, so for this kind of form to continue, they will have to start scoring more goals too.
Matos has added young winger Jeremy Monga to the ranks, on loan from Manchester City, who he had joined only this summer from Leicester City. The youngster is seen as one of the most exciting young talents in the United Kingdom, so he will definitely be the one that Matos and Swansea look to, as they attempt to add to an attack that already has the likes of Adam Idam and Ji-Sung Eom in good form.
