Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers might protest that his team will need to be at their best to claim victory against Stoke on Sunday, although he will surely be delighted with the way that the fixture list has worked out.

On Thursday night, Tony Pulis fielded a strong starting XI against Besiktas in the Europa League and it will be interesting to see how many changes that the Welshman makes on his return to south Wales to face a Swans team who have played some attractive football in every game so far.

Ladbrokes (£50 free bets) offer 17/10 that Swansea rise up to mid-table by collecting three valuable points in this match, with City unbeaten at the Liberty Stadium after a win and two draws. It is worth noting that clean sheets have been kept against Wigan, Sunderland and West Brom, with Paddy Power (£100 free betting) going 3/1 that Rodgers’ team win to nil.

Stoke will arrive for this match determined to avoid a repeat of what happened on their return from Kiev when Sunderland took full advantage to administer a 4-0 defeat. The visitors would be reasonably satisfied with a point from the last game before the international break which would give them ten points from their opening seven matches.

The man that they will have to keep quiet is Scott Sinclair, with the winger’s pace likely to cause problems along with Nathan Dyer, both of whom scored against West Brom in the last home match.

Peter Crouch and Cameron Jerome started the match against Besiktas, although we should expect Jon Walters to be back in the side for Sunday’s clash and Stoke will be looking to keep things tight.