Swansea City take on Crystal Palace at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday and they must win to avoid slipping beyond reach at the pit of the Premier League.
Bob Bradley’s Swansea City side picked up a vital point on the road against Everton at the weekend but they must now follow that up with three points against Crystal Palace at home on Saturday.
The Swans are five points from safety and Sunderland’s win at the weekend meant their point at Goodison Park was not enough to prevent them from going bottom.
Swansea have a season-defining month of games in December when they will face a number of the teams currently occupying the bottom third but they must give themselves a head start this weekend.
Most supporters who have watched Swansea this season will agree that they are not going to win every one of the crucial fixtures they have in December, probably not even close, so they must pick up points before the pressure is firmly applied.
Crystal Palace present a fantastic opportunity for Swansea to close the gap before December comes knocking.
Alan Pardrew’s men are just five points above the Swans in 16tthand a home win would see Swansea pull themselves closer to safety while dragging their opponents into trouble in the process.
There were real signs of improvement at Everton before another sloppy defensive error meant two points were dropped, and Swansea must show more of what they did in the first 85 minutes this weekend.
Palace have a number of dangerous attacking threats and they even managed to push Manchester City close the previous weekend before succumbing to a 2-1 home defeat so it will not be easy.
But it never is and Swansea must find a way to pick up home points against the likes of Palace or their Premier League status will continue to slip away quicker and quicker.
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