Swansea City travel to Bloomfield Road Stadium on Saturday with a clear mission to end almost four decades winless run there. But can Russell Martin’s men achieve this feat against all odds?
Blackpool and Swansea’s head-to-head record are almost identical. In 44 meetings, the Welsh side garnered 13 victories, one fewer than their hosts with 17 draws between them. Swansea, though, had the edge during their early rivalry, which was seen as an opportunity for best online casino au to create odds for the fans of the game
The Swans were victorious in their first ever meeting in 1926. They followed that up with two wins and a draw in the successive fixtures. However, Blackpool have turned the tide in recent times.
The Seasiders are unbeaten in the last eight tilts, winning four. They have also made Bloomfield Road something of a fortress with just two defeats in history of this tie. The most recent was in 1979.
Swansea haven’t beaten Blackpool in their home since 2005. In that League One encounter, The Swans edged out their guests 3-2. Adebayo Akinfewa was still a young prospect while Gary Monk approached the twilight of his career.
The stakes are higher this time. Both sides are separated by four points and two places in the bottom half of the EFL Championship table. A victory for either would certainly boost their push to the top half of the log.
Blackpool made it two wins from two league games last weekend as they saw off a resilient Stoke City side 1-0 away from home. Prior to that, Neil Critchley’s men ended their four-match winless run courtesy of a 4-1 victory over Reading on February 26.
With 48 points from 35 games, Blackpool are currently 14th, six points off Nottingham Forest. With nine wins in their 13 Championship games at Bloomfield Road this season, the Tangerines will be confident. They last won 10 home games in the second tier under Ian Holloway (13) back in 2011-12.
Meanwhile, Swansea followed up three successive home wins against Blackburn Rovers, Bristol City and Coventry City with a heavy 5-1 defeat against Fulham at the Liberty Stadium last weekend, which was backed with odds coming from best usa online casino.
Swansea have now conceded at least three goals in the same game on 10 occasions in the Championship this season – only basement club Peterborough (13) have done so on more occasions.
Russell Martin’s men are currently 16th in the table, three points behind Saturday’s opponents.
The Swans will take to the pitch without the services of Nathanael Ogbeta and Hannes Wolf, who are both recuperating from injuries. Ryan Manning is currently suspended. But should the Welsh club find their rhythm in attack, they could return with a share of the spoils. Else the Bloomfield Road spell continues.