‘Hull Are A Good Side With Quality All Over The Pitch’
- An assessment of Hull City from Hull Daily Mail journalist Barry Cooper
- The Tigers sit sixth in the Sky Bet Championship table under Liam Rosenior
- Leicester City are their next opponents at MKM Stadium on Saturday (3pm kick-off)
The Tigers, sixth in the Sky Bet Championship prior to this weekend’s fixtures, welcome Leicester City to MKM Stadium on Saturday (3pm kick-off). Three straight draws, including the 1-1 result at home to Birmingham City earlier this week, have extended their unbeaten run to six matches.
A win at automatic promotion-chasing Southampton has proved to be the most eye-catching success of this current stretch, with Liam Rosenior’s side also overcoming Enzo Maresca’s Foxes earlier this term.
“There was frustration on Tuesday night after the Birmingham game and the Manager wants positive energy,” Cooper said on the current feeling around the club. “They’ve won three in nine in the league at home; they’re not getting the results at home.
“They’ll want to put on a performance after midweek. They were unfortunate against Birmingham, they played really well. If City get the second goal, they go on and win three or four nil. Leicester found the exact same at Leeds – they were clearly dominant and had chance after chance.
“They’ve been knocking on the door of the top six all season, since they won at King Power Stadium in September. It’s the away form which has kept them in the running. They won three in row away from home so it’s a mixed bag.
“There’s an overall feeling that the quality that they signed in January, coupled with likes of Tyler Morton and Jaden Philogene, means they probably should be doing a little bit better. That said, they’re still sixth in the table.”
Possessing a midfield packed with attacking quality, it is the centre forward area which is of most concern for the East Yorkshire side, with injury ruling out seven-goal striker Liam Delap.
“Hull are a good side with quality all over the pitch,” the journalist continued. “They’ve invested well and they’ve spent well in January. Although he hasn’t scored in five games, Philogene did get an assist at Southampton.
“Fabio Carvalho is an obvious match-winner who on his day any team in the league would want to have. Anass Zaroury, we saw what he did with Burnley in the Championship last season.
“Ozan Tufan, who scored the other night, is a threat. Abdülkadir Ömür, the January signing from Turkey, looks a real player. He got Man of the Match on Tuesday and is working his way into English football.
“They’ve got attacking players and threats going forward but no Liam Delap, who scored at Leicester. He’s out with a knee injury, so that’s a big loss. The striker issue is a big one. They haven’t been playing with an out and out centre forward in recent weeks, which has caused a bit of consternation.
“I’d be surprised if he started with a striker on Saturday but he may spring a surprise and go with someone like Billy Sharp or Noah Ohio.”
The match-up looks to be an intriguing one, involving two teams who are set in their style and way of playing, without compromise. How that tactical battle plays out could decide who emerges with the points come Saturday evening, Cooper believes.
He added: “Some many teams have come to MKM Stadium this season and changed the way that they play and made it really difficult by putting 11 men on the edge of the box and trying to stifle City and frustrate them. Leicester won’t do that. They’ll play their game and think they have the quality to impose that.
“They won’t sit back and I think that will work in Hull’s favour. It will be two teams trying to play their game against each other. From the supporters’ point of view, there is a level of expectation that Hull are at home and in decent form so can go and win the game.
“There is a respect that they are top of the league and an acceptance that they are favourites, but fans will look at how they took Southampton to pieces only a couple of weeks ago and won at Leicester, though a lot has changed since then.”
All times GMT.