Swansea City are the opposition for our first game in the 2024/25 Sky Bet EFL Championship at the Riverside.
After playing our final pre-season match against SC Heerenveen, Michael Carrick’s side now turn their attention to the start of the league season for their clash against Swansea.
The background
Swansea finished last season in 14th position in the EFL Championship. It was a season of change for the Welsh side. In the summer of 2023, Russell Martin departed the Swans to take eventual play-off winners Southampton back to the Premier League.
He was replaced by Northern Irishman Michael Duff before the season got underway. His time in charge lasted less than six months after he led his team to five wins in 19 attempts in the league.
After relieving Duff of his duties at the start of December, assistant manager Alan Sheehan took charge over the Christmas period, winning his first game against Rotherham.
At the start of 2024 the Swans appointed current manager Luke Williams, who arrived from Notts County. The Swans recorded their biggest league win of the season away at Huddersfield, which saw them triumph 4-0. Williams managed to guide his side to a 14th place finish in the league.
In pre-season, Swansea defeated FC Koln, drew with FK Vardar and beat Rio Ave 3-0 at the Swansea.com Stadium.
The manager
Luke Williams' managerial career started in 2013 when he was appointed assistant manager to Mark Cooper at League One side Swindon Town. Williams would go on to work under Lee Power and then Martin Ling before becoming caretaker manager in December 2015.
After winning six out of his 10 games in charge, the young manager was given a five-year contract at the club.
Williams then became assistant to Russell Martin at Milton Keynes Dons in 2019 and at Swansea City in 2021.
He took up the role as manager at National League side Notts County in 2022. In the following season Williams guided the club to a record-breaking 107 points but finished second to Wrexham.
In the play-offs, Williams led County to promotion to the Football League, where he would take them to fifth in League Two before departing the club to join the Swans in January 2024.
Key players
Swansea’s key man is their skipper, Matt Grimes. Last season Grimes racked up his 300th appearance for the club in a 2-2 draw with Norwich City. The 2023/24 campaign was arguably his best yet, scoring four times and providing five assists from defensive midfield.
The Swans have been busy in the summer transfer window, adding four new recruits to Williams' squad. One of those is Slovenia striker Zan Vipotnik, who joined from French side Bordeaux.
The Slovenian scored 10 goals in 37 appearances last season for Bordeaux and was also involved in Euro 2024, in which he made one appearance against Serbia.
Liam Cullen, 25, is one to watch out for when the Swans make the trip to the Riverside. Last season, Cullen scored seven times and provided five assists for the Swans, with his most memorable goal coming in a 2-0 win in the South Wales derby.
Past meetings
Boro are unbeaten since 2021 against the Swans, winning five out of the six games. Our most recent win came in April 2024, when we ran out 2-0 winners at the Riverside thanks to a brace from Emmanuel Latte Lath.
Carrick’s side have done the league double over the Swans in the last two seasons.