Premier League preview: Swansea v Tottenham

Third-placed Tottenham travel to Wales on Saturday to take on Swansea as they continue the chase of the two Manchester clubs at the top.

After beating Norwich City 2-0 on Tuesday, a win over Swansea will get Spurs within four points of Manchester City and Manchester United, who have played a game more and are tied on 45 points.

Tottenham had an 11-game unbeaten run broken after losing 2-1 to Stoke City on December 11 but bounced back with a 1-0 win over Sunderland and a 1-1 draw against Chelsea.

Left winger Gareth Bale scored his fourth and fifth Premier League goals of the season against Norwich and will be the danger man against Swansea with five assists so far.

Dutch striker Rafael Van der Vaart started the match after an injury scare and the former Hamburg man will continue his prolific partnership with Emmanuel Adebayor; the pair have combined for 15 of Spurs’ 34 league goals this season.

With Aaron Lennon, Jermaine Defoe and Ledley King all out with hamstring injuries, Sandro Ranieri looks set to continue in place of Lennon with William Gallas to continue alongside Younes Kaboul at the back.

After dropping two points following a 1-1 home draw against Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday, Swansea will host Tottenham as they look to defend their formidable home record.

Just five points adrift of the relegation zone, Swansea have lost just once at home all season – a 0-1 defeat to Manchester United – with all of their four wins coming at the Liberty Stadium.

After a 4-2 away loss to Blackburn Rovers, Swansea roared back with a 2-0 win over Fulham, a goalless draw at Newcastle United and a 1-0 away loss to Everton before picking up a point against QPR.

Defender Angel Rangel limped off with a slight knock in the second half against QPR.

With Neil Taylor already out with a knee injury, manager Brendan Rodgers pushed Kemy Agustien to cover the left-back position against QPR and might do so again on Saturday if Rangel does not recover.

Striker Danny Graham took his league goal tally to five with one against QPR and will be expected to keep Swansea’s home record going against Gallas and Kaboul.