Swansea City vs. Wycombe Wanderers: EFL Cup Clash Preview
Swansea City and Wycombe Wanderers clash in the second round of the EFL Cup on Wednesday, looking to improve on underwhelming recent performances in the competition.
The Swans arrive at the Swansea.com Stadium on the back of a 1-1 draw with local rivals Cardiff City in the South Wales derby. Liam Cullen put Swansea ahead inside the first ten minutes, but Callum Robinson equalised late on, denying the home side a much-needed victory. The draw moved Swansea up to eighth in the Championship table, but they will be disappointed at their inability to build on last week's 3-0 win over Preston North End.
Swansea will be hoping for a stronger showing in the EFL Cup, having only secured three wins in the competition over the past four seasons. They overcame League Two Gillingham in the previous round, but suffered first-round exits to lower-league opposition in 2020 and 2022.
Wycombe Wanderers secured their first league win of the season at the weekend, overcoming Rotherham United 2-0. Matt Bloomfield's side had previously shown attacking promise, scoring two goals in each of their opening two League One fixtures, but suffered narrow defeats to promotion hopefuls Wrexham and Birmingham City.
Wanderers will be looking to build on their first-round victory over Northampton Town, having progressed past the opening round for four consecutive seasons. However, they have struggled to advance further in recent years, falling to Sutton United and Bristol City in the second round and suffering a third-round exit the season before.
Team News:
Swansea manager Luke Williams could rotate his squad for this fixture, with several players who started the first-round EFL Cup victory over Gillingham yet to feature in either league game since. Striker Zan Vipotnik, who recently joined from Bordeaux, could be handed his debut, while Florian Bianchini and Nelson Abbey, both unused substitutes on Sunday, may also feature. Sam Parker, Aimar Govea, and Josh Ginnelly remain sidelined for the hosts.
Wycombe, on the other hand, are facing an injury crisis early in the season. Goalkeeper Nathan Bishop joins a lengthy list of absentees, including Ryan Tafazolli, David Wheeler, Sam Vokes, Luke Leahy, Brandon Hanlan, and Beryly Lubala. New signings Gideon Kodua, Aaron Morley, and Cameron Humphreys, who all made their debuts against Rotherham, could be in line for starts.
Possible Starting Lineups:
Swansea City: Vigouroux, Naughton, Cabango, Pedersen, Tjoe-a-On; Fulton, Allen, Cooper; Abdulai, Vipotnik, Ronald.
Wycombe Wanderers: Ravizzoli, Grimmer, Low, Hartridge, Harvie; Morley, Scowen, Sadlier; Udoh, Humphreys, McCleary.
Prediction:
Despite potential changes to the Swansea lineup, their greater depth and experience should be enough to see them progress to the next round. Wycombe, despite their recent league win, are likely to be the underdogs in this encounter.
We predict a 2-1 win for Swansea City.
