Swansea City-Crystal Palace Preview

The accomplishments of Garry Monk's first full season in charge of Swansea City are already set in stone, and after their latest loss, qualifying for Europe won't be among them.

That doesn't diminish a club-record point total and the Swans' highest finish ever, which they'll try to pad Sunday against a Crystal Palace side seeking some club records of their own.

Swansea (16-8-13) head to Selhurst Park rooted in eighth place with 56 points and no chance of catching Southampton or being passed by Stoke City. The strong season has the club beginning negotiations with the Premier League's youngest manager to extend the 36-year-old's contract beyond the three years inked last spring.

Swansea's chance at Europa League qualification ended with last Sunday's 4-2 home loss to Manchester City after entering the match needing a victory over the second-place side to stay alive for sixth.

Monk's side fell behind 2-0 by the 36th minute, but Gylfi Sigurdsson scored just before the interval and Bafe Gomis drew them even in the 64th.

"We tried to push and had our moments in the game," Monk told the club's official website. "... Everyone has been excellent this season. It shows what a strong group we have and how we are growing. Our mentality is strong, we don't fold."

Gomis has scored in consecutive matches after missing a month due to a hamstring injury. The 29-year-old French striker has five goals in his last five matches, but despite the recent momentum, he's not pleased with seven goals in 30 league matches of his first Premier League season after making the move from Lyon.

"Swansea bought me to score more goals, and I believe there is more to come from me next season," he said.

The loss followed a three-match winning streak, and avoiding another defeat would establish a club record for fewest losses in a top-flight season. The 2012-13 club lost 14 matches.

Their chances for doing so seem high, given their 4-3-0 record against Palace dating to the 2009-10 Championship season. The Swans have won all three matches at Selhurst in that time while keeping clean sheets. This season, the clubs played to a 1-1 draw at the Liberty Stadium on Nov. 29.

Palace (12-9-16), who enter having tied their 38-match Premier League season high of 45 points, can still finish in the top half of the table for the first time with a win and losses from West Ham United and Everton. Those clubs are two points clear and hold plus-4 advantages in goal differential, so it seems unlikely draws from both would vault the 12th-place Eagles into 10th. West Bromwich Albion is a point back of Palace, who finished a club-best 11th last season.

Palace are entering on a high after going to Liverpool on May 16 and spoiling Steven Gerrard's final match at Anfield with a 3-1 win. It followed a four-match losing streak on which the Eagles had scored once.

After falling behind in the 26th minute, Jason Puncheon evened things in the 43rd before Wilfried Zaha gave the Eagles the lead in the 60th and Glenn Murray added to it in stoppage time.

The club welcomed Marouane Chamakh back into the starting 11 from a three-month absence due to a hamstring injury.

"The only difference today was we probably had a bit more control with Chamakh coming into the team," manager Alan Pardew told the club's official website. "We have missed him. Puncheon was terrific. Those two gave us a level of control."

Three of the losses on the recent streak came at home, and their play at Selhurst has dragged them down all season with a league-worst 18 points from 18 matches and 10 defeats. They haven't dropped four straight league matches at home since losing six straight in 1998.