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Jan 17, 2015 at 3pm UK
 
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Preview: Swansea City vs. Chelsea

:Headline: Preview: Swansea City vs. Chelsea: ID:199058: from db_amp
Sports Mole previews Chelsea's Premier League trip to Wilfried Bony-less Swansea City as the Blues look to open up a five-point gap at the top of the table.

Chelsea have the opportunity to go five points clear at the top of the Premier League when they visit Wilfried Bony-less Swansea City on Saturday.

The Blues put daylight between them and Manchester City again last weekend courtesy of a 2-0 win over Newcastle United and City's dropped points at Everton.

Chelsea can extend their lead further with victory at the Liberty Stadium, and put the pressure on the reigning champions ahead of their test against Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

City boosted their title hopes at the expense of Swansea by luring Wilfried Bony away from Wales. A £28m deal for 2014's most prolific Premier League scorer was confirmed by both clubs on Wednesday.

Swans manager Garry Monk will be hoping that he gets some of the profits made on the Ivorian to spend on improving his squad this month as they slowly fall off the pace in the quest for European places.

Tottenham Hotspur right-back Kyle Naughton, Stuttgart midfielder Alexandru Maxim and Anderlecht forward Aleksandar Mitrovic have all been touted as targets, but Monk will have to go with what he has this weekend.

Ki Sung-yeung and Jonjo Shelvey are still unavailable because of Asia Cup duty and suspension respectively and therefore Tottenham loanee Tom Carroll should continue in the centre of the park.

With winger Jefferson Montero still sidelined by a hamstring strain, the hosts could go with the same starting lineup that drew 1-1 with West Ham United last Saturday, with Bafetimbi Gomis leading the line.

The ninth-placed Swans have won two and drawn two of their previous five top-flight games, but have failed to win on each of their last five matches against opposition who are above them in the table.

Jose Mourinho may be forced into one change from his favoured XI after Cesar Azpilicueta limped out of the victory over the Magpies. Filipe Luis was his first-half replacement and will start at left-back in his absence.

A finger injury is still troubling Thibaut Courtois and so Petr Cech could be maintained in goal. Gary Cahill was dropped following the 5-3 loss to Tottenham Hotspur, but is expected to return at the expense of Kurt Zouma.

John Obi Mikel may be called upon to combat the threat of Gylfi Sigurdsson, who is second only to Cesc Fabregas in Premier League assists this season, in a move that would see the Spaniard pushed further forward.

Swansea have won only once in the league at Stamford Bridge - back in 1926 - but were 2-0 victors in the first leg of a Capital One Cup semi-final on their way to lifting the trophy in 2012-13.

Swansea:

Form in Premier League: LWWLDD
Form in all competitions: WWLDWD

Possible starting lineup: Fabianski; Rangel, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor; Britton, Carroll; Routledge, Sigurdsson, Dyer; Gomis

Chelsea:

Form in Premier League: WWWLDW
Form in all competitions: WWDLWW

Possible starting lineup: Cech; Ivanovic, Terry, Cahill, Luis; Matic, Mikel; Hazard, Fabregas, Willian; Costa

Sports Mole says: 0-2


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