Swansea V West Ham at Liberty Stadium - Match Preview




Laudrup facing Williams call

Michael Laudrup must decide whether to risk Ashley Williams in Sunday's Barclays Premier League meeting with West Ham.


The Wales defender has been sidelined for almost five weeks due to an ankle ligament problem, but took part in training earlier this week with Laudrup hoping to give his captain some match action before the south Wales derby against Cardiff.


Pablo Hernandez could finally get back on the pitch after a hamstring problem, but left-back Ben Davies will be missing until after the international break with a badly sprained ankle.


Last week's 4-0 win over Sunderland was Swansea's biggest home success in the Premier League, and saw them make the most of a string of second-half opportunities.


Laudrup has admitted his side have occasionally been guilty of wasting chances they can ill-afford to pass up.


Goalkeeper Michel Vorm believes Swansea's renowned passing style is one of their major strengths, but has echoed his manager's desire for a clinical touch in front of goal.


"It's about the points you have at the end, not how many passes you make in the game," he said.


"Obviously that's our strength and we will keep on doing that but it's about how you keep on making chances and scoring goals.


"We did that against Sunderland, but West Ham is going to be a totally different game."


West Ham currently sit 15th in the table and have taken eight points from eight games so far this season, a record which boss Sam Allardyce hoped would be better at this stage, with results at Upton Park a particular concern.


"I couldn't knock the performances too much but I think we're about four points short of what we should have achieved," he added.


"My huge concern is the fact that we've lost three home games on the trot, that never happened last season and if fact we only lost four all season at home.


"That's my biggest worry, our away performances have been very good but our results haven't matched the performances. We should have beaten Newcastle, we certainly shouldn't have lost against Hull City we had a good draw at Southampton and a great win against Tottenham.


"We've got to make sure we give our all in the Premier League because we're a 100 per cent team and we need to play at 100 per cent to win a game of football in the Premier League."


The Hammers lost 3-0 at Swansea in their first away fixture of last season, with Wales defender James Collins gifting the crucial second goal of the match to Michu.


The 30-year-old will not get the chance to make up for his poor display at the Liberty Stadium this time around as he remains sidelined with a hamstring problem.


Source: PA

Source: PA