Preview: Swansea City vs. Preston North End - prediction, team news, lineups

Swansea City will look to get their promotion bid back on track on Monday when they welcome Preston North End to the Liberty Stadium.

A dip in form has seen the Swans fall well behind the top two in the Championship table, with nine points now separating them from second-placed Watford, while Preston will play their second game without Alex Neil as manager, after the Scotsman departed prior to the international break.

Match preview

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Swansea suffered a disappointing loss last time out, as they fell to a 1-0 away defeat at the hands of Birmingham City.

Steve Cooper's side were let off when Freddie Woodman saved Lucas Jutkiewicz's penalty in the first half, but the keeper was unable to repeat those heroics to deny Scott Hogan from the spot in the 91st minute, and the Blues snatched all three points.

That was a third consecutive defeat for Cooper's men, having previously lost 3-0 to Bournemouth and 1-0 in a South Wales Derby against Cardiff City at the Liberty Stadium.

As a result of that poor run, the Swans have dropped out of the automatic promotion places, and now sit nine points behind Watford with a game in hand, while now also sitting behind Brentford on goal difference.

While they do boast the league's strongest defence, having shipped just 30 goals this season, their 45 goals scored is the fewest of all the sides in the top nine of the Championship.

Cooper will be desperate to change that in this game, as the Swans look to put an end to that bad patch of form and revitalise their chances of finishing in the top two.

However, they take on a Preston North End side who will be encouraged by a 1-1 draw with Norwich City last time out.

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The league leaders looked set to see out a 1-0 win thanks to Emiliano Buendia's 17th-minute opener, but Brad Potts popped up with an equaliser in the fifth minute of added time to seal a point for his side.

That was the first game since the departure of former manager Alex Neil, who left the club after a poor run, having picked up just five points from his last nine games.

In his absence, Frankie McAvoy has taken temporary charge of the Deepdale outfit, and he will be encouraged by an impressive result in his first game in the hot seat.

The Lilywhites now turn their attention to Monday, when they welcome another promotion chasing side in Swansea.

Team News

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Swansea carried out late fitness tests on Andre Ayew and Conor Hourihane before the Birmingham game, and Ayew was deemed fit to start in attack.

Meanwhile, Hourihane was dropped to the bench with injury concerns, but he could return to the starting team for this game.

The Irish midfielder has hugely boosted the Swans since his loan arrival from Aston Villa, having netted five goals in 13 games.

The experienced Ryan Bennett has been preferred over Ben Cabango recently, and he could start again in the back three alongside Marc Guehi and Kyle Naughton.

After flying back from international duty, left-back Ryan Manning was on the bench against Birmingham, but Cooper could bring him back in for Monday's match.

Frankie McAvoy made three changes to the side for his first game in charge of Preston last time out, as Andrew Hughes, Tom Barkhuizen and Emil Riis Jakobsen all started.

He will remain without captain Alan Browne, who will serve the final game of his suspension on Monday, while goalkeeper Declan Rudd and centre-back Patrick Bauer both remain out with long-term injuries.

Swansea City possible starting lineup:
Woodman; Naughton, Bennett, Guehi; Roberts, Grimes, Fulton, Hourihane, Manning; Ayew, Lowe

Preston North End possible starting lineup:
Iversen; Van Den Berg, Storey, Lindsay, Hughes; Sinclair, Ledson, Johnson, Barkhuizen; Jakobsen, Evans

We say: Swansea City 1-1 Preston North End

Preston North End have reason to be positive after their first game under McAvoy, while Swansea are in a concerning run of form which has seen them lose all momentum.

As a result, we see the visitors sealing an impressive result on Monday, with Swansea extending their winless run to four matches.