Swansea vs Manchester United Preview: Team News, Predictions, Key Man & More

Jose Mourinho's in-form Manchester United head to the Liberty Stadium on Saturday to continue their winning run against Paul Clement's Swansea City.

United vs Swansea City will open this weekend's round of fixtures, kicking off at 12:30pm.

After brushing aside West Ham United in their opener, Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho is in search of another win to end the club's five-season wait for top-flight silverware, while the Swans are simply hoping to avoid another relegation scare.

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Last Week's Performances

Swansea

A hard-earned away point was achieved by the Swans in their clash with Southampton. There were many positives to take out of the game in terms of defence, Swansea looked organised and disciplined on the pitch and therefore Southampton were unable to cut through their ranks leading to the 0-0 full time result. 

Eleven clearances by Federico Fernández and a further eight from Alfie Mawson saw the Swans central defensive partnership form a solid barrier which soaked up long periods of Southampton pressure.

However, in an attacking sense Wayne Routledge looked lost in the number 10 role. There was a lack of creativity which highlighted Gylfi Sigurdsson's absence and the need now for a replacement - and quick!

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Manchester United

The headlines were taken by Romelu Lukaku following a brace of goals on his Premier League debut for United but there were many star performances scattered throughout their side.

Nemanja Matić was ruthlessly efficient in dispossessing the Hammers and setting up counter-attacks, whilst Marcus Rashford used his pace to produce a dazzling display down the left wing which caused a constant threat to the ever-ageing Zabaleta.

The Red Devils put four past an abysmal West Ham and will want to continue their fine form defensively by obtaining another clean sheet on Saturday. In an attacking essence Mourinho's men will look to perform with the same dynamism, pace and clinical finishing which served them so well versus Slaven Bilic's men.

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Team News

Swansea

Swansea are still without star striker Fernando Llorente as he continues to recover from a fractured arm suffered while cycling on holiday during the off-season, keeping him out for the opening fortnight of the campaign. Ki Sung-Yeung and Nathan Dyer are the other notable absentees this weekend with knee and achilles injuries respectively. 

Paul Clement may decide to swap to a more defensive formation than his preferred use of a midfield diamond, especially with Wayne Routledge's unconvincing display in the number 10 role behind the striker. In his place Roque Mesa could make his Premier League debut and form a defensive partnership alongside Leon Britton to attempt to make it more difficult for United's attacking forces

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Manchester United 

Luke Shaw (foot), Marcos Rojo (knee) and Ashley Young (hamstring) are all still out of action, therefore Mourinho could name an unchanged starting line-up from last week.

Although United performed outstandingly in their opening encounter versus West Ham, Mourinho could alter a few details for this game with Matteo Damian, Ander Herrera, Victor Lindelöf, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial all in search of a starting position in their manager's side for Saturday. 

Another possible switch could see a different formation being used with Mourinho experimenting with a back-three during the summer. This formation may be used by the Manchester United manager as he still seeks to learn his side's best structure.

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Key Man

Romelu Lukaku used his pace and strength to completely outplay Winston Reid and Angelo Ogbonna at the heart of West Ham's defence. United's new signing outclassed the opposition and proved this by scoring a brace on his debut. 

The Belgian international is now linking up with the likes of Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to name only a few and has evidently shown from United's 4-0 win last week that he can score goals from a variety of positions and be clinical in chances created for him. 

Manchester United lacked goals in their last campaign, Lukaku looks to have rectified this and if he continues this form into the Swansea game he has got to be the key man for Saturday.

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Predicted Lineups

Potential Swansea Starting Lineup (4-2-3-1): Fabianski, Naughton, Fernandez, Mawson, Olsson, Britton, Mesa, Carroll, Fer, Ayew, Abraham.

Potential Manchester United Starting Lineup: (4-3-3): De Gea, Valencia, Bailly, Jones, Blind, Herrera, Matic, Pogba, Mkhitaryan, Rashford, Lukaku.

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Prediction

Swansea have the ability to frustrate United as they did in their previous meeting in April when a 1-1 draw was the least that Swansea deserved from the game. However, with the loss of Sigurdsson to Everton and Llorente's injury doubt it doesn't seem likely for the Swans to find a goal from anywhere with only Tammy Abraham up front. 

United are strong favourites to continue their form during the new Premier League campaign. Mourinho's side comfortably saw off West Ham last weekend and with his summer transfers  settling in well Man United could once again win comfortably. 

Prediction: Swansea 0-2 Manchester United