What The Stats Say As Swansea City Beat Preston 1-0

Swansea City made it 2 wins from 2 games as Graham Potter’s bright start to life at the Liberty Stadium continues as his side edged to a 1-0 victory over Preston North End thanks to a first-half headed goal from Jay Fulton.

The Swans had the better of the chances in the first half and they should have taken the lead as early as the 11th minute when McKay was brought down inside the box, but McBurnie’s low effort from the spot was well saved by the goalkeeper.

Jay Fulton’s headed home brilliantly from Asoro’s cross from the right and Potter’s side went in at the break with a deserved lead after limiting the visitors to just 2 shots, both of which were off target. They also edged possession in the first 45 minutes 52%-48%, and four of their 6 shots were on target.

The second half was a battle for the hosts, however, with only 32% possession and 112 of their 161 passes accurate (70%), they had to dig in and hold on for the win. Potter switched to a back three to cope with the pressure as Grimes replaced Asoro and Fer replaced McKay as the Swansea boss sacrificed our wide play and pace.

Pressure Graph

The pressure graph below shows the actions from each side during the game from left to right, with the Swans in green and Preston in blue. You can see that the Swans started strongly and after a quiet spell they came back to life after Fulton’s opener.

Preston then piled the pressure on early in the second half as Swansea began to tire. The middle of the second half saw a bit of relief for the Swans as Potter switched to a back three with the introduction of Grimes.