Swansea vs Norwich: the leaders against a side with no draws

Swansea City vs Norwich City at the Swansea.com Stadium, 12:30 BST on Saturday 10 October, sets the Championship leaders against the most chaotic side in the division. Swansea have seventeen points from eight and four clean sheets. Norwich have not drawn a match all season, and their eight games have produced thirty-three goals.

Swansea have won their last two, at home to Burnley and away at Lincoln City. Norwich have lost their last two, 4-3 at Middlesbrough and 4-3 at home to Bolton Wanderers, fourteen goals in two matches.

Swansea: top on control

Swansea won 2-1 at Stoke City on the opening day, drew 0-0 with Sheffield United, won 3-0 at Derby County, beat Watford 2-0, drew 0-0 with Wrexham, lost 3-1 at Southampton, beat Burnley 3-1 and won 2-1 at Lincoln. Thirteen scored, six conceded, seventeen points.

At home they are unbeaten in four, with two wins, two draws, five goals scored and one conceded. Their four clean sheets are the joint-most in the division, level with Lincoln City. It is not a side that overwhelms opponents; it is a side that rarely lets them in.

Norwich: every match has a winner

Norwich lost 2-1 at home to West Bromwich Albion, lost 3-0 at Millwall, beat Burnley 4-1, lost 1-0 at Stoke, won 3-1 at Sheffield United, beat Birmingham City 2-1, lost 4-3 at Middlesbrough and lost 4-3 at home to Bolton. Three wins, five defeats, no draws, sixteen scored and seventeen conceded.

They have not kept a clean sheet all season. Away from home they have won once in four and conceded nine. Their matches average more than four goals, and in the last two alone they have scored six and conceded eight.

• Swansea: 17 points from their first eight, 13 scored, 6 conceded, 4 clean sheets
• Swansea at home: won 2, drawn 2, 5 scored, 1 conceded
• Norwich: 9 points from their first eight, 16 scored, 17 conceded, no draws, no clean sheets
• Norwich away: won 1, lost 3, 6 scored, 9 conceded
• Kick-off: Saturday 10 October, 12:30 BST, Swansea.com Stadium

Last time out

Swansea won 2-1 at Lincoln City on 19 September, their second win in a row and their third away win of the season. It kept them two points clear at the top after West Ham and Middlesbrough both drew.

Norwich lost 4-3 at home to Bolton Wanderers on 20 September, a result that came a week after their 4-3 defeat at Middlesbrough. Two matches, fourteen goals, no points.

Where the table stands

After eight matches Swansea are first on seventeen points, two clear of West Ham and Middlesbrough. Norwich are seventeenth on nine, four points above the relegation zone and five below the play-off places, in a mid-table group of three clubs level on that total.

Two halves of a start

Swansea’s first four matches brought ten points, seven goals scored and one conceded. The last four brought seven points, six scored and five conceded, which included the 3-1 defeat at Southampton. They are still top, but the defence that conceded one goal in its first four matches has conceded five in its last four.

Norwich have gone the opposite way, and in the most chaotic manner available. Three points from their first four, with five scored and seven conceded; six from their last four, with eleven scored and ten conceded. Seven of their eight matches have produced three goals or more, and five have been decided by a single goal. Whatever happens in Swansea, it will probably not be dull.

What decides it

The simplest question is whether Swansea’s defence can do to Norwich what it has done to most visitors. One goal conceded at home in four matches, against a Norwich side that has scored in six of eight. If Norwich score even once, they will match what every other visitor to Swansea has managed combined.

Norwich’s record says someone will win. Swansea’s says it is usually them, and usually by keeping the other side out. A Swansea win would keep them top regardless of what happens elsewhere on Saturday.

Norwich’s only away win came at Sheffield United, 3-1, in early September. Their other three away trips all ended in defeat, and they conceded eight goals in those three matches alone.

Simulate it before it happens

Swansea keep clean sheets and Norwich never draw. On the Championship simulator you can play this match now and carry the real table forward from it.

• Play the remaining 38 rounds from the real table and the real fixture list
• Run this fixture through the AI match simulator, in tactical view or in the physics arena
• Open the line-up builder for both clubs before you kick off a simulation
• Turn an arena simulation into a vertical video ready to share

"Swansea have conceded one goal at home all season. Norwich’s last two matches produced fourteen."