Swansea, Liverpool battle for pride

Swansea vs. Liverpool
Venue: Liberty Stadium
Kick off: 12pm

The final month of the season gets underway at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday (today) when Swansea City host Liverpool in the first match of May.
The hosts go into the tie with a healthy nine-point gap separating them from the relegation zone, while Liverpool are still looking to keep up the chase for a European place.
Swansea will go into the final month of the campaign with a very welcome lack of pressure on their shoulders.
The Swans found themselves in the bottom three when Francesco Guidolin was confirmed as manager in January, but they can breathe easily going into the final trio of matches this season knowing that safety is all but secured.
The mandate for the remainder of the season will be to finish as high as possible and, while a repeat of last season’s eighth-placed finish is beyond their grasp, they do sit within striking distance of 11th, which would be some rescue job from Guidolin.
From a personal point of view, Guidolin has plenty left to fight for having made clear his desire to remain at the club beyond the end of the season, when his current deal expires.
Liverpool’s priorities are clear over the closing stages of the season, and they lie away from the Premier League.
A top-four challenge has looked unlikely for some time, but last weekend’s results saw another game go by and the gap stay at nine points – a big ask to overhaul with only four games of their season remaining.
Instead, the Reds must look to qualify for next season’s Champions League via the Europa League, where they could potentially be just 90 minutes away from the final.
There is work to do when they welcome Villarreal to Anfield next Thursday, though, with the Spanish outfit having struck at the death in their first leg at El Madrigal to gain a slender advantage at the halfway stage of the tie.
Belief will be high that they can overturn the one-goal deficit following their memorable comeback against Borussia Dortmund in the previous round, as well as the fact that they have scored 14 goals in their last four games at Anfield.
Their last league outing may have felt like a defeat having squandered a two-goal lead at home to relegation-threatened Newcastle, with Rafael Benitez earning what could prove to be a valuable point for the Magpies on his return to Anfield.
After this match, Liverpool take on Watford and Chelsea in back-to-back home games before finishing their league campaign against West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns.

Swansea possible starting lineup: Fabianski, Rangel, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor, Cork, Britton, Ki, Sigurdsson, Montero, Ayew.
Liverpool possible starting lineup: Mignolet, Randall, Skrtel, Toure, Moreno, Stewart, Allen, Lucas, Ibe, Sturridge, Lallana.