Match Pack: Swansea vs Saints
They keep on coming for Southampton, who return to Wales for the second time in as many weeks to face Swansea City on Saturday. Get clued up with all the key information in our Match Pack...
THE MATCH
Swansea City vs Southampton
Sky Bet Championship
Swansea.com Stadium
Saturday 18th April, 3pm BST
THE OFFICIALS
Referee: Oliver Langford
Assistant Referees: Johnathon Bickerdike and Mark Russell
Fourth Official: Martin Woods
THE KITS
Saints will be in their black and red third kit for the trip to Swansea, featuring black shirts and shorts with a red trim and black socks. Saturday's goalkeeper will be in their changed strip of all purple.
TICKETS
Saints have sold out their full allocation of 2,482 tickets for the trip to south Wales.
LIVE COVERAGE
Saints Play match passes are available to supporters outside of the UK.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
Victory over Blackburn at St Mary's Stadium on Tuesday night stretched Saints's unbeaten run to 18 games, moving Tonda Eckert's side up to fourth in the table and within three points of the automatic promotion places.
Another notch on this impressive run would see Saints continue to mount the pressure on second place Ipswich, who visit St Mary's Stadium on 28th April.
They visit a Swansea City side who currently sit in 14th in the standings, but three points of their own could see them rise to as high as ninth.
Whilst the play-off spots might be out of reach, a leap like this up the Championship table will certainly provide some pride and much-needed positivity as the 2025/26 campaign nears its conclusion.
TEAM NEWS
Swansea: Young full-back Ishe Samuels-Smith will miss the remainder of the season having sustained a quad injury which has so far kept him out of the last two Championship outings.
He will join Zeidane Inoussa, Josh Key and Ethan Galbraith on the sidelines who also miss Saturday's clash.
Saints: Finn Azaz missed Tuesday night's victory over Blackburn having suffered an injury during Saturday's victory over Derby. His potential involvement this weekend could provide Saints with an attacking boost.
With Ryan Manning suspended for the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City there could also be an opening for Welington to continue building minutes, following impressive cameos against Wrexham and Derby.
THE MANAGERS
Vitor Matos: “Southampton is probably, in my opinion, the best team in the league at the moment. They have a really good squad, even though they play every three days they rotate and keep the same performance, the same level. It says a lot about the squad itself.
"With the ball they're really organised. They have a clear idea of overloading the centre, using the last line as a reference to break the lines. Pressing too, more controlled man-to-man. So they're a good squad, a good manager, but it's a good sign for us because we can put a proper performance in show we can beat everyone."
Tonda Eckert: "[Swansea are] an excellent team in possession, I think if you look at the output that you need to be able to go if you go to Swansea it'll be the highest of the season. I think it demands the most intense distance that you'll need to cover.
"We need to be so sharp in the way we defend. We also have quality to be able to hurt them down the other end. But the key thing for us is that we're spot on in the way we approach and the way we press. For that we need to be able to cover ground."
ONES TO WATCH
Žan Vipotnik: When looking for a Swansea danger man look no further than the league's top scorer with 21 goals, including four in his last three.
The Slovenian has previous against sides in the play-off spots too. Last time out at the Swansea.com Stadium he netted twice from the penalty spot to earn a draw against Middlesbrough.
Ross Stewart: The Scotsman was kept fresh during Tuesday night's win over Blackburn, as Cyle Larin netted once more from centre forward.
Eckert continues to earn the rewards of switching between his two in-form strikers, with a rested Stewart looking to build on his own run of late.
TOP SCORERS
Swansea
Goals:
Vipotnik 23
Cullen 5
Franco, Ronald, Galbraith, Idah 4
Assists:
Tymon 10
Franco, Eom, Ronald 5
Stamenić 3
Saints
Goals:
Azaz 11
Stewart 8
Manning, Scienza 7
Assists:
Scienza 9
Azaz 8
Fellows 7
FORM GUIDE
Swansea
West Brom (a) CC: D 2-2 (Windass, Dobson)
Sheff Utd (a) CC: W 2-1 (Windass, Smith)
Watford (a) CC: L 1-3 (Cleworth)
Swansea (h) CC: W 2-0 (Broadhead, Cullen og)
Hull (h) CC: L 1-2 (Broadhead)
Saints
Blackburn (h) SBC: W 3-0 (Larin, Manning, Archer)
Derby (h) SBC: W 2-1 (Scienza, Harwood-Bellis)
Wrexham (a) SBC: W 5-1 (Matsuki, Downes, Larin, Stewart, Azaz)
Arsenal (h) FAC: W 2-1 (Stewart, Charles)
Oxford United (h) SBC: W 2-0 (Larin, Charles)
HEAD TO HEAD
Played: 75
Saints wins: 38
Draws: 17
Swans wins: 20
LAST FIVE MEETINGS
Oct 2025: Saints 0-0 Swansea Championship
Jan 2025: Saints 3-0 Swansea FA Cup third round (Kamaldeen, Dibling 2)
Jan 2024: Swansea 1-3 Saints Championship (Adams, Smallbone, Downes)
Dec 2023: Saints 5-0 Swansea Championship (Aribo, Edozie, Fraser 2, Adams)
Jan 2022: Swansea 2-3 Saints FA Cup third round (Redmond, Elyounoussi, Long)
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