Chelsea take the trip to Yorkshire to face Hull City as both sides will be looking to recover some form and confidence after 2 crushing Premier League defeats at the hands of Arsenal and Liverpool
Chelsea and Hull City are both still nursing their wounds after consecutive defeats in the Premier League. Though Antonio Conte’s side have fared a bit better in the Premier League, they wouldn’t consider their results to be any better, given that they sit 8th in the Premier League, 8 points behind League leaders Manchester City.
Both the Blues and the Tigers have endured similar seasons so far, with both of them starting off strong and then going downhill in September, with both failing to register a victory in the Premier League since the end of the transfer window. Hull are only 3 points behind Chelsea and will surely fancy their chances against a side severely lacking confidence.
Team news and Tactics
Hull City
Mike Phelan’s men will be without Michael Dawson, Moses Odubajo, Allan McGregor, Alex Bruce, Greg Luer and Brian Lenihan as they are all out through long term injuries. Ahmed Elmohamady will be out through suspension.
Over the course of the season Phelan has set up his team in 4-1-4-1 formations, with the primary objective being not to concede and attack on the counter.
The same formation is expected against Chelsea, with David Meyler and Livermore, both of whom are natural midfielders, taking their place in defence due to the number of injuries and suspension in the Hull City ranks. Young Scottish full back Andrew Robertson will take his place as a fullback.
Sam Clucas is expected to start in defensive midfield with former Spurs duo Ryan Mason and Tom Huddlestone in front of him in central midfield positions. Robert Snodgrass, who has been arguably Phelan’s best player this season so far is undroppable, so he will take his place on the right flank with Adama Diomande on the left with Abel Hernandez leading the line for the Tigers.
Predicted Starting XI: Marshall (GK), Meyler, Davies, Livermore, Robertson; Clucas; Snodgrass, Huddlestone, Mason, Diomande; Hernandez
Chelsea
Antonio Conte will be without Marco Van Ginkel and Kurt Zouma, who are still recovering from their long term injuries. John Obi Mikel, who hasn’t featured this season since returning from the Olympics, has picked up a muscular injury in training.
With John Terry set to miss out this game after failing to recover in time, Antonio Conte still have the unpleasant task of picking the 4 best defenders out of a bunch that have thoroughly under-performed this season. In their last game, Conte brought on Marcos Alonso in the second half to set his team up with 3 central defenders.
The same isn’t expected for this tie, but Cahill is expected to be dropped in favour of Bransilav Ivanovic in center back. Cesar Azpilicueta will move to his preferred right-back position and Marcos Alonso will take his place on the left.
Kante and Matic, despite their horrid showing at Arsenal are expected to be retained, and Oscar will likely make a comeback into the team after being left out of the squad that faced the Gunners. Willian and Hazard will feature on the right and left wings with Diego Costa leading the line.
Predicted Starting XI: Courtois (GK), Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Luiz, Alonso; Kante; Willian, Oscar, Matic, Hazard; Costa
Key Statistics
- Chelsea have kept only 1 clean sheet in 8 games this season in all competitions.
- Chelsea have conceded a minimum of 2 goals or more in 5 of their last 6 games in all competitions.
- Chelsea have scored a minimum of one goal or more against Hull City away, in 11 of their last 12 games.
- Hull City are yet to keep a clean sheet at home this season.
- Diego Costa is the joint-top scorer in the Premier League this season with 5 goals. Sergio Aguero of Manchester City and Michael Antonio of West Ham have the same.
Players to watch out for
Curtis Davies (Hull City)
The 31-year-old’s organisation will be key to how Hull City manage to hold off a Chelsea onslaught. Barring Diego Costa, Chelsea’s attack are far from living up to their potential at the moment, but that shouldn’t be taken lightly by the Tigers and their Captain will be well aware of that.
Hull are capable of holding on as was evident in their match against United, in which they only conceded an unlucky goal in extra time after holding off United for 90 minutes. Mike Phelan and the home fans at the KCOM Stadium will hope that their Captain can lead his side to another defensive masterclass to keep Costa & co at bay.
Diego Costa (Chelsea)
The Spaniard hasn’t scored since that 1-2 loss against Liverpool nearly 2 weeks ago and it’s something he would want to change immediately. He couldn’t help get his side on the scoresheet against Arsenal last week and their 2-4 victory at Leicester City before that.
He has quite easily been the best player that the Blues have had this season, saving them on more than once occasion. If Chelsea are expected to mount a challenge for fourth place, let alone the title, they will need their talisman to be at his very dangerous best.
Betting tips
A game that looks closer than it should, with Hull and Chelsea both coming into the game with just 1 point gained from the last 3 matches. The Hard Tackle feels like this has a chance of ending as a stalemate with Hull presenting a defensive masterclass similar to what they did against United for almost the entirety of the game.
Favourable Bets :
1. Hull Asian Handicap +1.0,1.5 @ 1.825
Underdog Bets :
1. Correct Scoreline 0-0 @ 12.00
2. Hull Draw No Bet @ 5.50
Prediction
Hull City 1-2 Chelsea
Whatever confidence that Chelsea would have built up at the start of the season would have taken a severe beating after those losses against Arsenal and Liverpool and we can expect an angry Chelsea side willing to change that. But with Captain John Terry set to miss out, Chelsea’s defensive issues continue with the lack of leadership in their back four, which will likely prove to be costly once again.
But with the amount of quality in Chelsea’s attacking ranks, anything less than a victory would be failure for Antonio Conte’s men. Based on the Blues’ current form, they should be able to score enough goals to edge past the Tigers, but questions will be raised by Roman Abrahmovich and the fans should Chelsea lose for the third consecutive Premier League match in a row.
