How Swansea City are defying all metrics en route to the Premier League

One of the strangest teams this season in terms of outperforming analytics is the Championship’s Swansea City. Without looking at their league position, one would think that the Welsh team were just above mid-table or perhaps just a small bit higher. In reality, they are second, four points off first-placed Norwich.

Steve Cooper’s men were quite a surprise in the playoffs last season and only qualified on the last day of the campaign due to Nottingham Forest’s utter capitulation at the hands of Stoke City, which dropped them out and allowed Swansea to take over.

Ultimately, Swansea lost in the semi-finals to a superior Brentford, but this season, they have come back even better and are in a stronger position to get promoted, despite what the statistics show.

Their goalscoring statistics are respectable but not overly staggering, scoring 33 goals in 26 games as of writing. However, what has really helped them gain their high placement in the league table is their defensive record, which is the best in the division. The Swans have only conceded 15 goals in their 26 games this season, an astonishing record.

In this tactical analysis article, which will be written in the form of a scout report, we will take a look at how and why Swansea are performing so well this season by performing an analysis on Steve Cooper’s tactics.

Formation and starting XI

Cooper usually deploys a back three formation with three midfielders. Recently, since signing Conor Hourihane on loan, their starting system has been a 3-5-2 with a single-pivot in midfield, but they have used a 3-4-1-2 throughout the campaign also, generally with Yan Dhanda or Korey Smith as a number 10.

Freddie Woodman is Swansea’s first-choice goalkeeper, and he plays behind a back three consisting of Marc Guehi, Ryan Bennett, and Kyle Naughton, although Ben Cabango and Joel Latibeaudiere are rotated in-and-out at times.

Cooper opts to use Matt Grimes as a number single pivot in the 3-5-2 system, usually supported by Hourihane/Smith and Jay Fulton/Dhanda, with Jake Bidwell and Connor Roberts flanking the midfield.