After the departure of top scorer Wilfried Bony to current champions Manchester City, the Swans have struggled to score goals.

In fact, in their last 12 matches, Swansea City have not scored more than one goal during a match, scoring only three times in their last five matches. So who can provide the goals now Bony has gone?

The obvious candidate in Bafetimbi Gomis. The striker was signed last summer on a free transfer, although his signing on fee was rumored to be very substantial. Having a good goalscoring record in the French Ligue 1 for Lyon, he undoubtedly has quality. In fact he still holds the record for the fastest ever hat-trick in the Champions League when he scored four goals in a match against GNK Dinamo Zagreb.

He is an industrious player, who is arguably more mobile than Bony, but one could argue lack of game time at Swansea has hampered his progression.

For a player who is well built, he can be easily knocked off the ball, and on occasions his first touch lets him down allowing an opposing defender to easily regain possession.

Currently, it seems the pace of the Premier League is too fast for him. However, the more game time he gets I do believe he will score goals, if not as many as the departed Bony.

So who else can manager Garry Monk look to for goals? Gylfi Sigurdsson has been a standout player this season and is Swansea’s current top scorer with six goals in all competitions. It is no coincidence that Swansea’s recent lack of goals has been due to his absence through suspension.

If fit and available, Sigurdsson should always be deployed behind the striker. This was the role favored by Michu just a couple of seasons ago. The position is far enough up the pitch to provide goalscoring opportunities while providing support to the striker and the wingers or wide midfielders, which the Swans now prefer to play. This is the position Swansea have developed as their own in the Premier League and no other team uses this key player better.

Jonjo Shelvey and Ki Sung-yueng should not be discounted as a source of goalscoring opportunities.

Shelvey adopts an attacking role on the field behind Sigurdsson, while Ki will work as a deeper-lying midfielder. But having those two together in the middle gives Monk balance in terms of movement forward and defensive play.

This formation effectively depends on the wingers and fullbacks creating space midfielders to exploit. Jefferson Montero was in great form before his recent injury, while Wayne Routledge began to look sharper before he suffered a calf strain when the Swans lost 5-0 to current Premier League leaders Chelsea.

One could argue there is no room for Nathan Dyer in the team after several average performances this season. While many would disagree with this suggestion, he is increasingly getting caught with the ball and finding it more difficult to beat his man.

Two exciting prospects for the remainder of the season are Jack Cork and Modou Barrow.

Cork is a player the Swans have admired for sometime, and someone they have attempted to sign on previous occasions. A former Chelsea youngster, he is comfortable on the ball with a good passing ability. He will suit the Swansea style of play very well. This, and his willingness to go forward from midfield, should provide a platform for more goals as the season comes to a close.

Finally, Barrow is a player who excites. Still raw, but very hungry and has electrifying pace. Monk is deploying the Gambian in wide areas but his favorite position is the lone striking role. He is someone who has an eye for goal and it will be intriguing to watch is development.

So what is Swansea’s best formation? Former managers Roberto Martinez and Brendan Rodgers used wide men to stretch teams, while Michael Laudrup’s Swansea became much narrower.

Monk has reverted back to a 4-2-3-1 formation, allowing two wide players to stretch teams in the middle of the park that allows space for Sigurdsson to create and provide goals for the team.

From a spectator point of view, this is the most enjoyable formation to watch.

Saturday evening at 6pm ET/3pm PT, and the late hour of 11pm UK time, England will face Italy in what should prove to be a fascinating encounter between two giants in International soccer.

However, in recent days the upcoming match has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons as the state of the pitch in Manaus has been criticized for being substandard and not fit for purpose. As of press time, the groundsman at Arena Amazonia are constantly watering the pitch, even though the city is located in a rainforest, and the pitch has been sprayed green to make it look more attractive to the global television audience. It’s that bare!

Roy Hodgson has now spent two years with the current England squad, watching several young players mature and develop such as Raheem Sterling, Ross Barkley and Luke Shaw, while more senior players like Steven Gerrard still have a lot to prove at this level.

The surge of young talent has assisted Hodgson in developing a certain style of play that is based on possession and passing. Sterling, Henderson, Barkley and Shaw are just some of these players who have been able to help Hodgson achieve this ambition as their current clubs adopt a total football philosophy. So with that in mind, can England get a result against the Azzurri?

The Italians are currently in a poor run of form, not having won a match for seven games and are an aging team in comparison to an energised England. However, it would be foolish to write-off such players as the passmaster Pirlo and De Rossi.

England will be looking to avenge being knocked out of the last European Championships in Kiev on penalties by the Italians, but then Italy, through the brilliance of Pirlo, dominated possession. This time around, England could be the team to dominate and control the match.

England’s success will lie with talents of striker Wayne Rooney. Rooney undoubtedly has the quality to score goals, sometimes wonder-goals, but the pressure has been mounting and while this is a tribute to an already successful career he desperately needs to prove his doubters wrong.

The local climate will undoubtedly play its part on the match, with the temperature markedly higher than that of Rio de Janeiro and this is something that could swing in the Italians favor.

So who is Italy’s secret weapon? Well he’s no secret and certainly not adverse to controversy, but former Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli, who is a proven goal scorer and a real danger inside the penalty box. Currently being linked to a return to the Premier League, he showed his frustration in the recent 1-1 draw against Luxembourg. But this frustration and energy channeled in the correct manner makes him a formidable opponent and a real threat to a slightly less experienced England back four.

Player to watch out for? England’s Leighton Baines. Arguably one of the best left-backs in the world with his overlapping runs down the channel and steely performances in defense make him the player Italy should be wary of.

SEE MORE — Read our Italy World Cup Preview and England World Cup Preview.

In what is surely the biggest game ever between the two South Wales football clubs, all attention has been drawn to the sacking of Swansea manager Michael Laudrup and the appointment, albeit temporary, of Garry Monk as his replacement.

Whilst this article was going to be a full preview of Saturday’s match in which the Swans will be looking to avenge the 1-0 defeat at the Cardiff City Stadium, we cannot ignore what has happened these past seven days.

The series of events that led to Laudrup’s sacking began after the 2-0 defeat to West Ham last weekend. Or did it?

Whilst many supporters and journalists thought his dismissal was a ‘bolt out of the blue’, the situation between Laudrup and some of his senior players has not been well since his appointment during the summer of 2011.

Just weeks after his appointment, the Swans toured North America with new players and a new manager. But within days rumours were circulating that senior players were not happy with the Dane’s training tactics. It is alleged that several senior members of the squad challenged Laudrup about his training methods as they felt he wasn’t training them hard enough. Again it is rumored that Huw Jenkins, the Swansea chairman, was called in to mediate the feud.

More recent rumors have suggested that Laudrup did not go into the dressing room after a game, regardless of a win/loss/draw and once his media duties were fulfilled, he drove home. Whilst some may argue the merits of these actions, many supporters are disappointed to hear that their manager is not congratulating the players or discussing the match, which is something that traditionally happens in the UK.

These are just a few rumors that suggest Swansea City was not a ‘happy’ place behind closed doors and this week’s actions by the club should be of no surprise. Some fans have questioned the timing, but I for one feel much happier and confident that a Swansea City player of 10 years who has lived and breathed this club will be in charge and ready to fire the players up for what promises to be a fantastic match.

The Swans arguably play the most attractive football in the Premier League and the statistics prove this. The Swans have dominated every game, home and away in terms of possession so far this season. That’s right, even against Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal.

Saturday will be no exception. I see the Swans maintaining their fluid style of play but one notable difference could be the use of the wide men, probably Dyer and Routledge. The ‘wingers’ have been playing a more central role this season (a very European style), but they have been caught in possession trying to wrangle their way through the crowded midfield area. However, Saturday should see the return of these two players playing much wider and further up the pitch to stretch the Cardiff defense, which should provide much more space for the ever improving Wilfried Bony.

Garry Monk was a defender when he played for the club and all eyes will be on the central defense positions. Will he put Amat alongside captain Ashley Williams or stick with Chico Flores who he recently had a training ground ‘bust-up’ with? Should he choose Amat, expect that to be the start of the end of Chico’s time in South Wales.

One definite starter will be Leon Britton. A dependable, reliable player and great passer of the ball, Monk will surely choose him over Canas. Britton, like Monk has been at the club for over 10 years and knows only too well what this game means to the Swansea faithful.

It’s been an eventful week. I feel more confident that the majority of the Swansea players will play with more effort and vigor under Monk and so Swansea should get something out of the game. If the Swans win, Garry Monk will instantly became a ‘God’ in South West Wales for masterminding a win over the old enemy. If the Swans lose, well, that’s not even an option.

Julian Price runs swansfc.com, a must-visit site for fans of Swansea City.

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