With Sunderland already down and Middlesbrough looking on the way, the battle to avoid the final relegation spot is very much a two-horse race. So much so the Premier League is reportedly making tentative preparations to allow for a 39th game of the season between Swansea and Hull, a winner-takes-all playoff to stay in the top flight.
Such an eventuality depends on the two clubs ending the season with identical points, goals scored and goal difference, but it's certainly possible. With just three games to play, Swansea will host Everton this Saturday with one eye on Hull's home game vs. Sunderland.
On paper there's no doubt Hull have the easier fixture. Marco Silva's side have a formidable home record as it is, regardless of the fact their opponents are already relegated and have nothing to play for. But there are still one or two considerations which might help Swansea.
Perhaps Sunderland will relish the opportunity to drag a geographical rival down with them? (Although relishing opportunity is not something David Moyes squad has looked particularly capable of this season). Or perhaps individual Sunderland players will want to put themselves in the shop window ahead of the summer transfer window? Even if -- Jermaine Defoe, Lamine Kone and Jordan Pickford aside -- most of the squad seem better suited to the Championship anyway.
Barring an unlikely show of Sunderland motivation, it is likely Hull will win, and Swansea will need to match that result. Everton have long proven a tricky opponent for Swansea, who have beaten the Merseyside club once in nearly six seasons of top flight football, although five of their 11 games have ended in draws. A draw is unlikely to be good enough come Saturday, but at least Everton will have next to nothing to play for.
Ronald Koeman's side are stuck neatly in seventh, the token "best of the rest" spot, right on the dividing line between the big six and the small 14. With three games left that seems unlikely to change. Eighth-placed West Brom are six points behind, while Arsenal in sixth have a narrow two point cushion but two games in hand. Assuming Arsenal don't completely implode -- which is still a possibility -- Everton will likely be satisfied with seventh.
Come Saturday then, Swansea will sense an opportunity to pick up a rare win against a less motivated opponent. Muddying the waters and providing an extra storyline is the return of former Swans captain Ashley Williams. Beloved by fans, his departure last summer is still seen by many as the No. 1 reason for Swansea's struggles this season. The club never adequately replaced him, and although Alfie Mawson looks more technically accomplished, Williams' absence created a leadership vacuum which the team has struggled to fill.
It will be the first time Williams has returned to play at the Liberty since the move, and it is impossible to gauge how he will respond. Coming home but playing away, wearing the wrong colours, trying to manually override an eight-year-long Pavlovian response to a stadium full of Swansea accents belting out Hymns & Arias. He will come to Swansea knowing his old club, his old friends, his old fans, need a win perhaps to stay in the league, to retain the status he tried so hard to achieve hand-in-hand with some of these players.
It is probably too much to expect Williams to hammer a clearance into his own net to help the boys out, but the defender will be under intense scrutiny. Will he allow emotion and hesitancy to affect his game? Will he try too hard to look like he's not affected? Will he rise to the challenge and put in a strangely strong performance? Will Koeman even play him?
Nostalgia aside, it would be best for Swansea if Williams did play. The defender was never very good in the air -- perhaps the one flaw in his game which stopped him from ever playing for one of the biggest sides. Fernando Llorente is due a good game after choking in the dying moments of last Sunday's 1-1 draw with Manchester United. The Spaniard put up against Williams is an enormous aerial mismatch which Paul Clement should look to exploit all game long.
Games are running out, and with little room left for manoeuvre, one slip could soon settle the relegation picture conclusively. If the worst happens for Swansea on Saturday, the Welsh club will be facing a five-point gap with two games left. In the best case scenario, Swansea will be sitting in 17th come Saturday evening with a one point gap of their own. Such are the margins between these two clubs. But they can't allow the return of an old friend to blunt their focus.