Middlesbrough vs Swansea City

[VitalSwansea]

MATCHDAY THREAD – MIDDLESBROUGH vs SWANSEA CITY
Saturday 9th August 2025 | Kick-Off: 3:00pm
Venue: Riverside Stadium
Live on: SwansTV

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Build-Up
The Swans begin the 2025–26 Championship campaign with a tough away trip to Middlesbrough.
Alan Sheehan begins his full-time tenure as Swansea manager after taking the job permanently earlier this Summer following an impressive end to the 24/25 season.

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Discussion Points

• What’s your starting XI for the opener?
• Which new signings are you most excited to see?
• How should we approach this one tactically?
• Your score prediction?

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Head-to-Head
Last Meeting: Middlesbrough 1–0 Swansea City (Aug 10, 2024)
All-Time Record (League):
Wins: Swansea 18 | Draws: 11 | Losses: 25

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Form Guide (Last 5 Competitive Games)
Swansea City: WWWLD
Middlesbrough: LWLDL
(Note: Based on final 5 matches of 2024–25 season)

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Team News & Injuries (from WhoScored)

Swansea City:

• With Ben Cabango doubtful and Ricardo Santos and Filip Lissah both unavailable, Cameron Burgess is the only fit senior centre-back in Swansea's ranks.
• Jay Fulton could therefore debutise alongside Burgess at the back.
• Zan Vipotnik is managing a toe injury but should be fit enough to start up top.
• Key winger Eom Ji-Sung only returned to training this week and is unlikely to meet fitness requirements in time for the bout at the Riverside Stadium.

Player	Status
Filip Lissah	Out
Ricardo Santos	Out
Eom Ji-Sung	Doubtful
Zan Vipotnik	Doubtful
Ben Cabango	Doubtful

Middlesbrough:

• Hayden Hackney's future remains up in the air, so expect the midfielder to make the bench at best on Saturday.
• Darragh Lenihan hasn't played a competitive game since September 2023, and that wait will go on after picking up a muscle injury in pre-season.
• Seny Dieng, George Edmundson and Finn Azaz missed the entirety of Boro's pre-season campaign.

Player	Status
Darragh Lenihan	Out
Alex Bangura	Out
Riley McGree	Out
Finn Azaz	Out
George Edmundson	Out
Seny Dieng	Out

Confirmed Line-Ups:

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Quotes
Alan Sheehan:

“It becomes real now, there is a different feel to a Championship game and it is one we are pleased to have back,”

“We are looking forward to Saturday. We have had a good week of training, this is what we have all been waiting for and we are excited to get going.

“We want to be competitive, we finished last season with wonderful momentum and we got to a place where we had built good character, resilience and confidence within the group and the club.

“We want to evolve, we want to become a better team, a team that Championship teams play and know they are going to be in for a difficult test.

“I know everyone wants to ask what we think we will do over the season ahead, but I think we have been clear that we want to be a club that improves.

“In order to be successful you need to gain momentum over a period of time and a number of transfer windows, and keep the core of a group together, but you also need everybody on board.

Rob Edwards: No quotes found

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Vital Swansea Prediction:
A tricky start for the Swans away from home with an incomplete squad and a few injury concerns to boot, can see a narrow win for Middlesbrough.

Get Involved!
Line-ups, goals, talking points and post-match reaction all in here.

COME ON YOU SWANS!

 

[VitalSwansea]

 

[VitalSwansea]

Middlesbrough's transfers IN this Summer:

Date	Pos.	Player	From	Fee
1 July 2025	GK	Owen Foster	Hull City	Bosman
4 July 2025	CB	Archie Baptiste	Tottenham Hotspur
25 July 2025	CF	Jayden Carbon	Oxford City	Undisclosed
25 July 2025	CB	Jack Daley	Newcastle Blue Star	Free transfer
25 July 2025	CB	Alfie Jones	Hull City	£3,000,000
29 July 2025	DM	Abdoulaye Kanté	Troyes	£2,610,000
4 August 2025	RB	Callum Brittain	Blackburn Rovers	£3,500,000

 

[VitalSwansea]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1954161992891060570

 

[VitalSwansea]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1954161993235255535

 

[VitalSwansea]

Swansea City:
Lawrence Vigouroux;
Josh Key, Ben Cabango (captain), Cameron Burgess, Josh Tymon;
Jay Fulton, Ethan Galbraith, Gonçalo Franco; Ronald, Jisung Eom;
Liam Cullen.

Substitutes:
Andy Fisher, Melker Widell, Žan Vipotnik, Bobby Wales, Kaelan Casey, Zeidane Inoussa, Ollie Cooper, Sam Parker, Cameron Congreve.

 

[seagullswan]

Glad to see Cabango back. Not too surprised with the team apart from I'm surprised Inoussa is on the bench and Eom starting since Eom missed part of preseason

 

[sit_down_jack]

The team news is a lot better than I thought it would be. I’m still not expecting too much until we get all our signings in and everyone is fit 100%.

Good performance hopefully!

 

[VitalSwansea]

Yeah Ben and Eom coming back in helps. Fulton, Ronald and Cullen the weak areas for me that need replacing before the end of the month. Vipotnik has a knock but we still need better, waiting on midfielder news and a possible winger so all good (if we can get them in!)

 

[seagullswan]

Still curious how we're gonna set up defensively. Key and Tymon like to push up and leave spaces behind, so maybe Fulton drops in to make a back 3? Hoping some of the new boys on the bench get a chance

 

[eye_nose_hat]

Still curious how we're gonna set up defensively. Key and Tymon like to push up and leave spaces behind, so maybe Fulton drops in to make a back 3? Hoping some of the new boys on the bench get a chance

yeah expect Fulton to drop back as defensive cover with the other 2 bombing on

 

[VitalSwansea]

Decent move that down the left but Tymon fires over. He's usually quite clinical in those areas, expected a low cross or shot

 

[VitalSwansea]

Something I picked up on last season that I wasn't a fan of under Sheehan is the gap between defence and attack with just 1 pivot midfielder.

 

[eye_nose_hat]

what exactly are we trying to do? in terms of style of play?

The only thing that's obvious is we've binned trying to play out from the back! Cabango and Burgess don;t look capable of that at all especially with Fulton there as the CDM - he's not exactly going to progress play is he

 

[VitalSwansea]

Average positions for the 1st half

 

[seagullswan]

what exactly are we trying to do? in terms of style of play?

The only thing that's obvious is we've binned trying to play out from the back! Cabango and Burgess don;t look capable of that at all especially with Fulton there as the CDM - he's not exactly going to progress play is he

Feels like we need to try have more control. A couple nice patterns but I don't see us competing with the ball in the air all the time

 

[VitalSwansea]

1st half stats

 

[VitalSwansea]

A quiet half in terms of goalmouth action. 3 shots apiece but nothing in terms of decent goalscoring chances.

Neither side able to get the ball down and any good attacking moves together.

Swans desperate for some presence up top through the middle and some pace out wide.

 

[KentJack]

Average positions for the 1st halfView attachment 82833

That image perfectly sums up the game, all played in midfield

 

[eye_nose_hat]

Feels like we need to try have more control. A couple nice patterns but I don't see us competing with the ball in the air all the time

that's not the Sheehan way, he doesn't seem bothered about control like his predecessors were.

It feels more solid defence based and counter attack yet we have very little to counter attack with. Ronald can't beat a man.

I expected Sheehan to demand pace out wide in the Summer window and yet we're piling up with midfielders