When the fixtures were released towards the end of June, Tranmere were given the task of being the first team to face Swansea City at their brand new Stadium.  The big question for everyone is whether Rovers will have the pleasure of being the first winners at the 20,000-seater Stadium or whether they will have the pain of forever being remembered as the first team to lose a competitive game at the Stadium?

As we look to get hopefully another promotion campaign under way with a win, the last thing Rovers would have wanted was an away tie at a team not only looking to make an impression in a higher division following promotion, but also playing a new Stadium.

Since their promotion to League One at the end of last season, Swansea have added amongst others, winger Marc Goodfellow from Bristol City and striker Adebayo Akinfenwa from Torquay United.  The pair, along with Lee Trundle have been amongst the goals in pre-season and will certainly be ones to watch out for.

Tranmere have had a generally good pre-season campaign although a 2-0 reverse at Carlisle in their final friendly last Saturday has put slight dampener on the squads preparations.  However in spite of this, Brian Little is sure to have his troops ready for action from the off and hopefully the three points will be going North at 5pm on Saturday.

Swansea have had a mixed pre-season campaign with two home matches against Premiership opposition and two away wins at lower league clubs.  The Swans were 5-0 winners at Merthyr Tydfil and 3-1 winners at Bridgewater Town whilst at home they were defeated 4-1 by Blackburn but managed a 1-1 draw against Fulham in Alan Curtis’ Testimonial.

In previous meetings between the sides at Swansea’s former home of The Vetch, Rovers have only ever managed a single victory in ten attempts, although five of these matches have ended in a draw.  In overall games between the sides though, its all square with six wins a piece and nine draws.

The last meeting between the sides was at Prenton Park in 2004 in the fifth round of the FA Cup when Rovers were victorious 2-1 thanks to goals from Ryan Taylor and Iain Hume after former Rovers hitman Andy Robinson had initially fired the Swans ahead.  Alan Tate was sent-off for the Swans six minutes from time.

Club Connections:

As mentioned, former Tranmere player Andy Robinson is a member of the Swansea squad but he will be absent through suspension for this game after receiving a lengthy ban for head-butting an opponent towards the end of last season.

DEADLY’S MATCH PREDICTION: SWANSEA CITY   1 - 1   TRANMERE

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