Hull City get back to the home comforts of the KCOM Stadium after a trip to the Turf Moor yielded a point from a 1-1 draw. But the home comfort stretches to the venue only and nothing beyond that as Arsenal are the team who will come calling on Saturday. After a fortuitous week, the Gunners will be looking to stamp their authority on the football field on their way to a result which should give a bit breathing space to the star cast of Arsene Wenger. After having to take the help of a controversial penalty right at the end of the 90 minutes to earn a win against Southampton, the Gunners had to rely on a profligate Cavani and an impressive David Ospina eking out a draw at Paris. They will look to get an assertive display at the KCOM Stadium.
But Hull will be looking to make the job as difficult as possible for their visitors and they are capable of frustrating big teams as we saw in the match against Manchester United who could not get past the Tigers till moments before the end of the match. The Tigers were understandably favourites for the drop before the start of the season without a permanent manager and signings to show in the summer. But they have added to the squad since, maybe not to the required necessity but they have shown enough grit and determination to have a chance of survival this season.
T4O’S PREDICTED HULL CITY LINE-UP VS ARSENAL (4-1-4-1)
DEFENCE
It will be a toss-up between Jakupovic and Marshall as the one to take up the position between the sticks. Ahmed Elmohamady is most likely to start at right-back. The central defensive pairing will be Jake Livermore and Curtis Davies. And the pair of them will be aware of the massive barrage of workload they will be subjected to on Saturday. Andrew Robertson will most likely start at left-back.
MIDFIELD
Ryan Mason might get a look in as the shield in front of the back four after being one of the summer purchases for the Tigers. David Meyler and Tom Huddlestone will station themselves in the midfield and will have an important job of helping out the backline.
ATTACK
Adama Diomande started the last game on the left-wing and is expected to start again. Robert Snodgrass will start on the right-wing and his expertise on set-pieces will be key if Hull are to attack Arsenal’s goal. Abel Hernandez will start up front.
