After last week's disappointing trip to Aston Villa, the Swans will look to get back on track at home. However, along the road to redemption lies a sterner test as David Moyes' Everton come to town.

Everton were one of only three sides to beat the Swans both home and away last season. Interestingly, one of the other two -- Norwich -- was coached at the time by Paul Lambert, the architect of Villa's unexpected victory last week (the third side was Manchester United, in case you were wondering).

Of the matches involving those sides, it was Everton's win at the Liberty that ought to be remembered most. Moyes masterminded the most comprehensive nullification of the Swans game plan all season, keyed around Tim Cahill's robust, game-long man-marking of holding midfielder Leon Britton.

Of course, this is a new season with a new manager and a new-look Swans. Everton have also changed; most notably from the Swans perspective, Tim Cahill has gone, although Everton still have plenty of players who can cause trouble, with Steven Pienaar the most notable.

The biggest story for Swansea is the possible loss of defensive rock Ashley Williams to an ankle injury sustained in the Villa loss. Losing Williams at any time would be significant, but the Swans are in particularly poor shape to withstand another defensive casualty; Chico is serving game two of his three game suspension, Kyle Bartley is injured, Garry Monk is injured and even midfielder Kemy Agustien, a reluctant but tested last resort to fill in at centre back, is out.

This leaves a potential starting centre back pair of... just Alan Tate. Although Tate can play more than one position he sadly isn't more than one man; hence the Swans might be in real trouble.

However, the Swans do have options. Laudrup could look to the reserves with centre back Darnel Situ and Daniel Alfei, a full back who can play in the middle, as the most likely emergency reinforcements.

A more outlandish idea might be to start a striker at centre back. Danny Graham certainly has the work ethic and physicality, though whether his defensive reading of the game would be up to par is less certain. He certainly knows how a striker thinks and how defenders can make life difficult for forwards, so it's not as bad an idea as it might sound. It's also not unheard of in football; that said, I would be extremely surprised if it happened on Saturday.

Laudrup could also switch tactics and go with three at the back, tucking the full backs in around Alan Tate and using an extra man in midfield to cover. This seems unlikely with the strength Everton have on the flanks, but it might be an option.

In attack, there seems a strong possibility of a start for Pablo, who was a bright spot on an otherwise drab day last weekend. Ki Sung-Yueng might have longer to wait for a start but ought to see some action as a sub if he doesn't make the first eleven.

Key Match-Ups

The battle of the flanks - Everton's left vs Swansea's right
Steven Pienaar is the spark that ignites Moyes' Everton side and bringing up the rear behind him is Leighton Baines, who likes to get forward almost as much as Angel Rangel. Although Rangel is considerably stronger in defense than he is given credit for, he is not quick off the mark. If Pienaar can catch Rangel upfield, he'll find plenty of space to attack behind. Meanwhile, a marauding Leighton Baines might open up a similar space for the Swans Nathan Dyer to exploit at the other end. The team that gets the right balance of attack and defence from it's full-back and winger combo on the day will have the advantage.

Marouane Fellaini vs Everyone
Fellaini is a real Premier League curiosity and a handful for any back line. The Swans might be forced into playing a third or even fourth string defence and haven't defended set-pieces well even at full strength. Last season, Fellaini won the physical battle against Williams. With possibly no Williams and definitely no Chico, the Swans don't really have anyone who can go one-on-one with the big Belgian. Containing him will be half the battle.

Prediction: Moyes won't have had as much film to study on Laudrup's Swans as he did on last season's Rodgers' incarnation, so another convincing victory is by no means a given. Laudrup has instilled a sense of playful unpredictability in his Swans side, which ought to help keep the pressure off. Meanwhile, injuries to Everton's Darron Gibson and deadly Nikica Jelavic might help even out the Swans' own injury crisis. With that in mind, I'm going for a draw.

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