The last two home games, Manchester City had to really dig deep to keep their perfect record in the English Premier League intact. Both Liverpool and Crystal Palace gave them quite a few scares, but the only thing that will matter in the end is the six points that the managed to come away with from the two matches.
Where to Watch Live
The game is scheduled for a 6.15 pm IST start with live coverage on Star Sports 4 and Star Sports HD1. The match is also available for live streaming online HERE. To catch the action in Australia click HERE, while viewers in the US can live stream the match HERE. UK viewers can watch all the action live online HERE, with the same for Middle East and North Africa viewers HERE. Viewers from the rest of Africa, including South Africa, can watch the match via live streaming HERE.
Come New Year's Day, Manchester City will target the same sort of resolve, fight and three-points-we-shall-pick-up quality when they travel to Swansea.
Manuel Pellegrini's men are now seen as the firm favourites to lift the Premier League title come May, and the manager will know the importance of winning at places like Swansea if they are to justify that tag.
"I think that it was a fantastic month for us. We played nine games during December; we won eight and drew just one. In the league, we won six from the last seven and that is very important for us to recover points from Arsenal who were six points ahead of us," said Pellegrini, whose side are a point behind Arsenal and can go top with a draw or a win on Wednesday.
"It's very important to finish the year in the position that we wanted to be. It's always better to be first, but to recover six points in a month is a great thing.We continue also in the Capital One and in the Champions League, so I think the first six months of the year was very good for us. Now in the second half, we try to win."
Swansea, so impressive last season under Michael Laudrup, have been a little disappointing this campaign,with the Welsh side winless in their last five Premier League games. But Pellegrini is aware of the task at hand at the Liberty Stadium on Wednesday.
"Swansea is a team that are playing very well at home and away and we will need to be strong in every sense, defending and attacking, if we want to win the three points," the Chilean said. "I think every team in the Premier League can cause problems to our team and to all the other teams -- it's so close this Premier League.
"Six or seven teams will be fighting for the Premier League until the end and this will continue exactly the same as the first half, that within four or five points, you have five teams. I think this will be exactly the same."
Team news: Swansea:Laudrup will have to do without the services of goalkeeper Michel Vorm and forward Michu.
Manchester City: Pellegrini rested several players in the win against Crystal Palace on Saturday, and the likes of Pablo Zabaleta, Yaya Toure and Alvaro Negredo are expected to return to the starting lineup.
Sergio Aguero, Micah Richards, Stevan Jovetic and Martin Demichelis, however, remain sidelined.
Key men: Swansea: Chico and Ashley Williams will come under siege from the City attackers, and how they cope with the pressure will have a major impact on the result.
Manchester City: Alvaro Negredo will be keen to make an impact from the start and continue his goalscoring ways after netting that epic winner against Liverpool on Boxing Day.
Expected lineups: Swansea: Tremmel; Rangel, Williams, Chico, Davies; Britton, Canas; Hernandez, De Guzman, Shelvey; Bony.
Manchester City: Hart; Zabaleta, Kompany, Nastasic, Clichy; Toure, Fernandinho; Navas, Dzeko, Nasri; Negredo.
