Swansea 2013-14 Preview

To finish top 10: 7/4 (Boylesports)
Last season: 9th

Reasons for hope:

Last season was the best in the club’s history; a first major trophy was grabbed at Wembley in the League Cup before a ninth place finish was secured in one of the toughest divisions in the world. Now they have bought someone to help share the goalscoring burden with Michu; Wilfried Bony found the net 37 times in 36 outings for Vitesse last term to become the top marksman in Holland and earn a £12m switch to Wales.

Potential bet: Top Swansea league goalscorer - Wilfried Bony: 6/4 (Skybet)

Reasons to worry:

Well pessimists will say it can only go one way from here. Michael Laudrup has done a brilliant job but there must be concerns that he won’t stay the course, not least with the club falling out with the Dane’s agent over transfer policy. The other concern would be that this time round they need to juggle league form with a European campaign, assuming they pass the final qualification hurdles.

Potential bet: Swansea to finish bottom half: 8/15 (WilliamHill)

Verdict:

Won’t be as good as the last two seasons with the Europa League likely to cost the Swans domestic points. That said, there should never be a serious threat of relegation.