Next weekend Leicester City will almost certainly provide Swansea City with their biggest test of the season so far. Some would say there won’t be a bigger examination of the Swans at home this campaign.

We tend to agree.

The two other relegated sides, Southampton and Leeds United haven’t fared as well this season, but the Foxes have taken to the Championship like the proverbial duck to water. From their eleven games they have won ten, and in recent times have gone from winning their fixtures by the odd goal to overpowering sides. Blackburn Rovers, Preston North End and Southampton will stand testament to that.

The goals are flying in, over two a game on average, the Foxes are on twenty three currently, and the defence is solid, just six goals conceded. It sounds an impossible task, however Hull City are the anomaly, not only did they beat Leicester City they did it at the King Power, no mean feat.

For the likes of Vardy, Dewsbury-Hall, Iheanacho and Kasey McAteer to be amongst the goals then you need a Onyinye Wilfred Ndidi. The Nigerian is having an inspiring season, he has scored three goals himself and has chipped in with four assists as well. Okay, a few in the league cup but then if that’s explained away easily what about Dewsbury-Hall ? He has been at the Foxes since the age of eight and earned his stripes at Luton and Blackpool on loan. Described as a defender by some, we see him as a box to box team player, but maybe that evidences his flexibility more than anything. This season he has five goals and three assists, all in the Championship, so for those who just see him as a defensive player, there’s some medicine in those figures for sure.

If it all sounds a bit demoralising then it should be. Michael Duff goes into this game with a number of absentee’s. The obvious omission of Nathan Wood the biggie, and if Ben Cabango gets anywhere near a Swansea starting eleven in the next two weeks we will be very surprised. Both have nasty injuries, Ben’s not so serious but he surely won’t be risked in such a big game ? The positives are there though, a similar back four to that we saw at Plymouth Argyle will be a decent shout. However, every Swans player needs to be on their game with the likes of Harry Winks, Mavididi (below) and Jannik Vestergaard in this high flying Leicester side. Vestergaard is uncompromising, he has six yellow cards already this season, on his return to the side against Stoke City last time out he earned another yellow.

And Leicester another victory.

The Foxes can be breached though. They do have periods of time where their concentration lapses, and Hull City exposed this. Their high press rewarded them with a Liam Delap strike and despite Leicester’s twenty one shots on goal, only one was on target. Manager, Enzo Maresca identified the concentration issue and said after the game. "We cannot think that we will win every game. Defeat is normal in football. We started very good until their goal and then for fifteen or twenty minutes we ‘lost a little bit of balance and control’. In the second half we were in control and creating chances. Sometimes the ball doesn't go in. I don't know how many shots we had. When you produce a lot you need to be clinical."

That’s where the Swans will win or lose this game.

We have seen Duff’s resurgent Swans in the last four games, slowly getting better and using the ball wisely on the break, and indeed a more solid defence is evident. Carl Rushworth is looking like the best stopper the Swans have had since Lucas Fabianski, his saves at Plymouth evidence of a committed team that knows now what it has to do to win games. Organisation is key with breaks at pace. Bets are off surely for a 0-0 draw, there will be goals. The Swans haven’t had a scoreless draw this season and this game looks likely to continue that pattern. Jerry Yates is on four goals having been suffocated of decent supply when the Swans were going through that awful start to the season, if he gets the service he will deliver. A full away end will add to the atmosphere with a near capacity Swansea.Com expected. This is one of those games Swans fans love. Bucking the trend and proving people wrong is a Michael Duff trait during his managerial career, however his game plan for this fixture will have to be match perfect.

Of course it’s okay going for the win, that’s what every supporter of any side expects, but there’s always a need to keep certain players quiet. Jamie Vardy doesn’t seem to have lost much of his pace and has bagged five goals already this season. He has had a few issues with injuries in the last year or so, a hamstring pull, a knee injury and other soft tissue concerns have affected the thirty six year old striker. That aside, he was twenty three when he really started to show promise as a professional footballer so his longevity isn’t a surprise, and what is guaranteed is if he stays fit he will easily hit double figures this campaign.

All told this promises to be a cracking game, this is the first Swans v Foxes fixture for over five years. Our build up as ever will be throughout the week as the international break comes to a close.

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Photographs licensed from Reuters

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