Marching on Together: Swindon Town match preview

By: j | September 9th, 2008

Leeds heads into this weekends match against Swindon Town at The County Ground on a high-note after last weeks 5-2 destruction of Crewe. Led by Maurice Malpas, a fixture at Dundee United for twenty years, Swindon Town is a tricky match-up and will pose a major problem to Leeds if they allow them to play there own style.

It seems redundant, if not somewhat foolish to note it given it is Leeds best performance this campaign but to be successful they must play with the same tactical approach and mindset as they did against Crewe. The key component is the pace, direction and leadership of Fabian Delph as Leeds, goes on the hunt for goals and attacks with tenacity.

Recent Form
Swindon Town - combined (2 W,1 D, 2 L)(7 GS, 8 GA)
Aug 9 Swindon Town 3 - 1 Tranmere
Aug 16 Cheltenham 2 - 0 Swindon Town
Aug 23 Swindon 1 - 3 Colchester
Aug 30 Milton Keynes Dons 1 - 2 Swindon Town
Sept 5 Hereford 1 - 1 Swindon Town

Swindon Town - home (1 W, 0 D, 1 L)(4 GS, 4 GA)
Aug 9 Swindon Town 3 - 1 Tranmere
Aug 23 Swindon 1 - 3 Colchester

Leeds United - combined (2 W,2 D,1 L)(11 GS, 8 GA)
Aug 9 Scunthorpe 1 - 2 Leeds
Aug 16 Leeds 0 - 2 Oldham
Aug 23 Yeovil 1 - 1 Leeds
Aug 30 Leeds 2 - 2 Bristol Rovers
Sep 6 Leeds 5 - 2 Crewe

Leeds United - away (1 W, 1 D, 0 L)(3 GS, 2 GA)
Aug 9 Scunthorpe 1 - 2 Leeds
Aug 23 Yeovil 1 - 1 Leeds

Swindon Town will likely come out in a 4-4-2 with the following expected lineup:

Jack Smith (Kevin Amankwaah),Jerel Ifil,Hasney Aljofree, Michael Timlin
Kasali Yinka Casal, Lilian Nalis, Craig Easton, Anthony McNamee
Billy Paynter, Simon Cox

Barry Corr could make his return at striker after a very lengthy injury. Swindon’s striker tandem of Billy Paynter and Simon Cox should a great deal of promise, with young Mr. Cox likely to see the Championship in the not-so distant horizon.

Leeds will be without Lubo Michalik who is suspended but looks healthy otherwise. My preferred lineup is noted below and alternatively with this lineup you can pull Jonny Howson back into a central midfield position if Gary McAllister prefers on a 4-4-2

Casper Ankergren
Frazer Richardson, Rui Marques, Paul Telfer and Alan Sheehan
Robert Snodgrass, Andy Robinson and Fabian Delph
Jermaine Beckford, Luciano Becchio and Jonny Howson

I will be posting full review after the match concludes. Until then, We’re Marching On Together.