Swansea City

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The second south Wales derby of the season has been moved to an earlier kick-off.

But the Cardiff City Stadium encounter does remain a Saturday showdown as Swansea City look to avoid a second successive defeat at the home of the Bluebirds.

The game between the two rivals has been selected in the latest round of television picks from the Championship, with the game taking place at 12.30 GMT on Saturday 18 January.

The Swans were beaten 2-0 on their last trip to Cardiff in September 2023 - only to rally after Luke Williams replaced Michael Duff and win the return tie at the Swansea.Com Stadium by the same scoreline in March 2024.

The two sides played out a 1-1 draw in Swansea in August, then-Cardiff manager Erol Bulut being sent off during the game which secured the only point he picked up this season before being sacked the following month.

Both sides have seen three other games moved in the period that covers up to the end of February.

Swansea's game at Norwich City a week after the derby on Saturday, 25 January is also now a 12:30 GMT kick-off.

The Swans' game against Bristol City at Ashton Gate has been moved to a midday start Sunday, 9 February, meaning the home game with Sheffield Wednesday has been pushed back 24 hours to Wednesday 12 February (19:45 GMT).

Cardiff see their game at Millwall on Tuesday, 21 January moved to a 20:00 GMT kick-off, while their Severnside derby game has Bristol City travel to Cardiff City Stadium for a 12.30 GMT kick-off on Saturday, 15 February.

Finally, the Bluebirds game at Wayne Rooney's Plymouth Argyle has also been brought forward to lunchtime, with the Saturday, 22 February fixture at Home Park now kicking-off at 12.30 GMT.

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Former Swansea midfielder Andy Robinson says he feels for Luke Williams’ side after claiming Burnley’s match-winning penalty at Turf Moor on Sunday was the result of a "terrible" refereeing decision.

Match official David Webb awarded the hosts a spot-kick when he adjudged Swans skipper Matt Grimes had handled the ball inside the area.

Jay Rodriguez converted from 12 yards to seal the 1-0 win for Scott Parker’s side, leaving Robinson devastated for Swansea’s players who he said had done enough to earn a point – despite lacking more of a goal threat.

"It's a sickener," Robinson said on BBC Radio Wales Sport. "I don’t mind the referee taking his time – and I’m seeing it on the monitor – but it’s never, ever a penalty."

Grimes did handle the ball with his arm raised as he went up for a header amid Burnley attackers, but then could do little when the ball was headed towards him at close-range from eventual goalscorer Rodriguez.

Robinson added: "He’s tried to pull his hands away, but there’s players around him. I can see why Matty Grimes is so aggrieved – and I also think it’s a foul on Harry Darling before that.

"It's a big call and he’s [the referee] got it wrong. I’ve been there as a player. It’s a bad decision, a terrible decision."

Robinson praised the dispatch of the spot kick in additional time, but said Swansea should take credit for matching the Clarets, who climbed to fourth in the Championship after the win.

"Both teams were getting into good positions and not delivering," he said. "We didn’t see clear-cut chances. There were some efforts, but not golden chances.

"Josh Key stood out, Joe Allen in his 60 minutes was fantastic, as was Ban Cabango.

"But for Swansea there were some really good performances, but just when they got into the final third, that’s when they lacked."

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Former Swansea City striker Bafetimbi Gomis has announced his retirement from football.

At the age of 39, the 12-cap France international confirmed on French television he has decided to hang up his boots.

And it means the end of one of the most striking goal celebrations.

Gomis would often imitate a panther stalking and clawing its prey when he found the back of the net during a two-year Premier League spell at Swansea.

Unfortunately for Swansea, it was only unleashed 17 times after arriving from Lyon amid much hope in 2014.

He did manage key goals in wins over Manchester United and Arsenal - twice each - in his time at the Liberty Stadium during Garry Monk's time in charge.

But he did not manage to emulate the success of the likes of Michu and Wilfried Bony before leaving on loan for Marseille in 2016 and then permanently to Galatasaray.

Gomis made his name at Ligue 1 side Saint-Etienne and then Lyon, confirming his decision when appearing as a TV pundit during coverage of the two side's derby this weekend.

After time in the Saudi ProLeague, a second spell at Galatasaray and most recently with Kawasaki Frontale in Japan, Gomis left the J League club last month by mutual consent.

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Gareth Vincent
BBC Sport Wales

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Some might argue that Swansea City could not complain about the penalty which cost them a point at Burnley because Matt Grimes' arm was in an unnatural position when the ball hit his hand.

Then again, not many players compete for headers with their arms by their side, so where exactly a natural position would be is up for debate.

Wherever you stand in that particular argument, what was not in question was that Swansea were beaten in cruel fashion at Turf Moor.

Not only that, but Luke Williams and his players will have spent the long journey home feeling they had not got what they deserved.

Burnley boss Scott Parker was adamant his side were worthy winners, yet Swansea competed throughout with the Clarets and had big chances to seize control of a contest which was always in the balance.

"We tried to play on the front foot and we tried to win the game," Williams pointed out.

Not for the first time this season, Swansea could have done with more composure and quality in the final third.

Burnley had opportunities which went begging too, and it would be hard to argue that Swansea should have become the first side to beat Parker's team on their own ground this season.

But Williams' side carved out enough decent opportunities to get something on Sunday, regardless of Jay Rodriguez's last-gasp spot-kick.

Yet for the eighth time in 15 league games this season, Swansea failed to score.

Williams says he is not sure whether an impending change of ownership will have any impact on the club's transfer plans.

But if the takeover does mean extra money to play with in the transfer market, Williams will surely want it spent on strengthening his attack.

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The numbers suggest a goal rush is unlikely at Turf Moor on Sunday, when the side with the Championship's meanest defence host a Swansea City team who do not often concede.

Burnley kept a sixth clean sheet from their last eight games as they drew 0-0 at West Bromwich Albion on Thursday.

Having been relegated from the Premier League last season – when they conceded 78 goals in 38 top-flight games – Burnley have reset under Scott Parker, who took over from Vincent Kompany in the summer.

In 14 league outings so far this campaign, the Clarets have conceded a mere six goals.

That is the best record in the division, while Swansea have been breached only nine times so far.

Other than Burnley, only Sheffield United (seven) and West Brom (eight) have conceded on fewer occasions than the Swans in the Championship this season.

Does that make a goalless draw the most likely outcome when Burnley and Swansea come face to face?

"Both teams won't be approaching the game in that way," said Swansea head coach Luke Williams.

"I hope we are going to be difficult to score against, but I'm sure both teams are going to be trying very hard to beat each other."

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A Swansea win would be their most notable so far this season, given that Burnley - who could include ex-Swans Connor Roberts and Bashir Humphreys - have not been beaten on their own patch since relegation.

Parker's men have lost only two league games all season, at Sunderland in August and against in-form Millwall at The Den last weekend.

The challenge facing Swansea, therefore, is "as big as they get" in the second tier according to Williams.

"It’s going to be a very tough place to play football and establish ourselves," he added.

"They are a team with a lot of quality and a manager with a lot of experience. It is certainly going to be a huge test."

Swansea will be boosted by the return after suspension of Josh Tymon, but Andy Fisher, Sam Parker, Jay Fulton, Ollie Cooper, Eom Ji-Sung and Burnley old boy Josh Ginnelly remain out.

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Head coach Luke Williams plans to give Florian Bianchini more opportunities to play as a striker after the Frenchman's upturn in form.

Swansea thought they were getting a player who would operate primarily on the flanks when they paid about £2m to sign Bianchini from Bastia in August.

But the 23-year-old's performances since arriving in Wales have prompted Williams to change his view.

Bianchini struggled to make any impact while playing out wide during the first couple of months of the season.

But having come on as a centre-forward against Millwall a fortnight ago, Bianchini had two big opportunities to score.

When he was given another substitute appearance as a striker against Oxford United last weekend, Bianchini delivered his first Swansea goal.

Williams again used Bianchini as a number nine against Watford in midweek and, though he did not score, he looked sharp and hungry to help his team as they held on for a 1-0 victory.

"He played wide more often than not last season and has great attributes for a wide player," Williams said.

"He was brought into fill that role but I think it’s fair to say that he found it difficult to find some rhythm there.

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"But since he’s been down the middle of the pitch, he’s looked a lot more confident and comfortable and he is making a really positive impact. I think certainly his immediate future will be more there."

Bianchini has made himself a genuine option to start up front when Swansea look for a third successive victory at Burnley on Sunday.

Zan Vipotnik has started the last four games as Williams' central striker, with Liam Cullen being used in a deeper role.

Williams says his trio of centre-forward options all have different qualities, with the pacy Bianchini looking much more at home in a central position.

"He is so quick and powerful and he was showing a good level of aggression and looked a goal threat [against Watford]," Williams added.

"I think the goal at Oxford has given him an extra boost in confidence. I’m very excited about his future here with us."

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Luke Williams says Swansea City have January transfer targets in mind as they look to build on a promising start to the season.

Williams has challenged his players to push for a Championship play-off place in 2024-25 after successive league wins lifted them to ninth in the table.

Swansea's head coach is working with a relatively thin squad – and says the club are looking at the possibility of trying to strengthen in the mid-season window.

"We’ve got some players who potentially would be a good fit for us and we will continue to monitor them as they play games and try to get a really good grasp on whether we think those players are the ideal ones for us," Williams said.

"That work has begun already."

Williams says that while performances leading into January will have an impact on transfer plans, there are some areas where Swansea need greater options.

"Some of the scenarios don’t change whatever is going on because there potentially are gaps in the depth of the squad," he added.

"I think we have a good idea of what’s out there and which players we can realistically sign, so that’s good."

It remains to be seen whether a probable change of ownership at Swansea will lead to any change of approach when it comes to transfer policy.

Last summer, the Championship club focused primarily on recruiting young players with the potential to develop in cheaper overseas markets, though they did bring in experienced defender Cyrus Christie earlier this month.

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Newport County head coach Nelson Jardim hopes Swansea City will be back on the “right track” as a result of an ownership change.

Majority owners Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan are in the process of selling their stake in Swansea City to fellow shareholders Andy Coleman, Brett Cravatt and Nigel Morris, along with businessman Jason Cohen.

Jardim had a long association with the Swans as a coach, first joining the club in 2009 under Paulo Sousa.

He subsequently re-joined the club in 2017 as a lead academy coach and then first team coach under Francesco Guidolin, Paul Clement and Carlos Carvahal.

Now Jardim hopes the ownership alteration and possible extra finance from the change, will strengthen a club about which he still has strong feelings.

“The club is important for the city and the country and hopefully they will find that right track, because Swansea belongs to the Premier League and hopefully they will go back," said Jardim.

Jardim recalled he first met Levien and Kaplan who bought a 68% stake in Swansea, then a Premier League club, in 2016.

“I got to know them for the first time in Washington, during a pre-season when Guidolin was there. They were great to us, fantastic, with big projects for the club. They were very focussed and very good to us.”

Portuguese coach Jardim now devotes his full focus to his first managerial role, with Newport County, under former Swansea City chairman Huw Jenkins.

But he still has strong feelings for the Championship outfit which he left to join Aitor Karanka’s Birmingham City in 2020.

“I don’t hide my feelings. The club is close to my heart because of my past good years there.

"It is such a big club and and important club for me and my family.”

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Myles Peart-Harris was signed as a central attacking midfielder and he has already been tried out as a striker.

But the 22-year-old looks like he may have found a home as a wide player in Luke Williams' Swansea City side.

Peart-Harris, 22, marked his 11th Swansea appearance – and fifth start – with a first goal for the club against Watford on Tuesday.

His winner against the Hornets capped the latest encouraging display from a player who looks to be finding his feet in the Championship.

"I think he's a young player who didn’t play at the level before and is very quickly adapting and then doing a bit more than adapting, he is looking like he's feeling more and more comfortable," said Swansea head coach Luke Williams.

"I loved the goal because he had a couple of chances in previous games where he didn’t assert himself, where I think he didn’t really believe in that moment that he was going to score.

"But I think he ended up in the goal with the ball [against Watford] and I love that because he's like, 'I'm taking it, this is mine'."

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Peart-Harris is on loan at Swansea for the season from Brentford, where he has made a handful of senior appearances having spent much of his youth career at Chelsea.

He spent the second half of last season on loan at Portsmouth, where he scored twice in 12 games to help Pompey to promotion from League One.

Peart-Harris showed his knowledge of Swansea's history by mimicking Michu's hand-to-ear celebration after scoring against Watford.

Michu was one of the stars of Swansea's seven-year stay in the Premier League, memorably scoring 22 goals in all competitions in the 2022-23 campaign.

"He's a Swansea legend," Peart-Harris said. "Ever since I joined the club, I've been telling my friends that's the celebration I wanted to do."

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Luke Williams reckons his Swansea City side cannot do much more defensively - but says they must continue to improve in the final third to maintain their good form.

After a six-game winless streak - and a painful five-match sequence without a goal - Swansea have lifted spirits with successive Championship victories over Watford and Oxford United.

Zan Vipotnik and Florian Bianchini struck at Oxford last weekend before another summer recruit, Myles Peart-Harris, scored the only goal against Watford.

After dominating against the Hornets for an hour, Swansea withstood a spell of late pressure to keep a fifth clean sheet of the season.

Williams feels his players are showing signs that they can be a competitive Championship outfit, though he wants more progress in attack.

"There aren’t many teams who you think were a really good side but they couldn’t defend, or they were really good [defensively] but couldn't pass the ball for toffee," the Swansea head coach said.

"I think you have to do both. Hopefully we are showing that we are pretty mean defensively - we don’t ship too many goals and we have a lot of clean sheets.

"The big challenge was that we had to score more goals and we are scoring more, but I think still we can increase that with the ball we have and the attacking actions we have."

No side outside the Championship's top six have conceded fewer goals than Swansea, who have been breached only nine times in 14 league fixtures and have not lost a game by more than one goal all season.

But despite this week's successes, Swansea remain the lowest scorers in the division, having netted only nine times so far.

"I think we will have to go some to be a better side defensively - I think we are there pretty much," added Williams, whose team are next in action at Burnley on Sunday.

"But we have to try to continue to make more of the volume of ball we have."

Gareth Vincent
BBC Sport Wales

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Swansea City must hope the signs of promise being shown under Luke Williams will lure fans back to the Swansea.com Stadium as this season goes on.

Williams' team climbed to within two points of the Championship play-off places courtesy of a hard-earned, but well-deserved victory over Watford on Tuesday.

The only negative on the night for Swansea was the size of the crowd.

Only 12,869 fans were present to see Myles Peart-Harris' goal secure the points, the lowest turnout for a home Swansea league game – aside from those affected by Covid – in five years.

Not since April 2019, when 10,459 supporters watched Graham Potter's team beat Brentford, have fewer fans turned up for a Championship fixture on Swansea's patch.

Since then, in fact, there had not been crowd below the 14,000 mark until Watford's visit.

Other than the Brentford game, you have to go all the way back to September 2010 – in the early stages of the season which saw Swansea promoted to the Premier League – to find a lower league gate than the one seen this week.

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There are mitigating circumstances. It was Guy Fawkes Night, kick-off was not until 20:00 GMT and the game was available to watch on satellite TV.

But even so, Swansea's hierarchy will presumably be concerned about the new low mark in what has been a season of relatively disappointing attendances.

It is not as if Williams' team are doing badly.

Yes goals have been at a premium this season, but Swansea have lost just one of their seven home league games and, given the limitations of their squad, are well placed in the table.

Their successes so far have been achieved by playing attractive football, too, so it would be hard to argue that Williams' team could do much more to lure fans to the ground.

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Luke Williams believes his Swansea City side are developing an "identity" after successive victories lifted them to within two points of the Championship play-off places.

Swansea deservedly beat Watford on Tuesday thanks to Myles Peart-Harris' first goal for the club.

Swansea's first home triumph since mid-September followed last Saturday's away success at Oxford United, which had ended a six-game winless streak and five-match goal drought.

While Swansea remain the lowest scorers in the Championship despite successive wins, Williams says his side are showing signs of progress.

"When I look at the performances and try to look at the data in the performances – I know it's not the most exciting thing in the world, but that's what we have to do – and when I watch the games with my own eye, I feel like we are becoming a team with an identity," said the Swansea head coach.

"I think many of the games [this season] we have been able to make look the same. I think if we win more of those games, then we have a very good feeling.

"But I feel like we are going in the right direction and we are creating an identity where we can now establish ourselves in more games than not."

Swansea took control against Watford thanks to a dominant first-half display, with Peart-Harris sliding in his first goal for the club shortly before half-time.

They held on to win despite an improved second-half showing from Watford, with Williams' rearguard largely keeping the Hornets at arm's length.

"The way the players approached the game from the beginning – very intense, concentrating a lot, playing really good attacking football and very quickly destroying opposition attacks…" Williams added.

"This is the type of football I think is enjoyable and I hope it's more enjoyable for the fans when we play like that."

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Luke Williams has a decision to make at left-back when Swansea City host Watford on Tuesday because Josh Tymon will be missing through suspension.

Tymon has been a regular in Williams' Swansea side but the former Stoke City player must sit out against the Hornets after picking up a fifth yellow card of the season in the win at Oxford United last weekend.

The signing of free agent Cyrus Christie last week means head coach Williams has a number of options when it comes to replacing Tymon.

Though he is most at home at right-back, Christie - who featured as a substitute at Oxford - has plenty of experience of operating on the left flank.

Another right-sided player who could be asked to fill in on the left is Kyle Naughton, while Williams could also turn to Indonesian international Nathan Tjoe-A-On or on-loan Olympiakos defender Nelson Abbey, though he is primarily a centre-back.