The Proverbial 6-pointer. The battle of the strugglers. Cats Vs Tigers. Whatever you end up calling it, the importance of this match is paramount for both the teams involved. While one of them managed to defy the odds and have a surprising start before succumbing to the cut-throat competition, the other team fell into the rut from the start.
Hull City showed a lot of fight and heart to play the way they did in the opening weeks, after all the boardroom problems which affected the team affairs directly. But the 11th-hour steps they took were never expected to be enough and they have failed to cope in recent weeks. Even though they are in the 18th spot, they can boast of having double the points as their next opposition, Sunderland.
Moyes’ Sunderland have been a sorry lot and other than Defoe and Pickford no one has been able to come up with anything of note. Let us take a brief look at the 3 key battles which will likely affect the outcome.
JERMAIN DEFOE VS CURTIS DAVIES
Defoe has been Sunderland’s sole torch bearer when it comes to attacking endeavours and there is a belief that if a team can stop the former Tottenham striker, they basically stop Sunderland from scoring. Hence, Defoe will be taken good care of by the Hull defenders and the bulk of the work will fall to Curtis Davies.
Davies has been impressive defensively, throwing his body around and intercepting lots of passes but the avalanche of attacks the defence has to contend with has been beyond his capability to contain. It will be an interesting battle between the two.
ROBERT SNODGRASS VS PATRICK VAN AANHOLT
Snodgrass is Hull City’s chief and sometimes the only creator and scorer. He is by far their highest goalscorer with 4 goals and has chipped in with an assist as well. Despite the statistic, he hasn’t adhered to his usual standards yet. But against a 20th placed Sunderland side, he will back himself to increase his attacking tally. He will be facing the overtly adventurous Van Aanholt and will look to exploit the latter’s tendency of been caught out of position more often than not. But it might be the other way as well with the left-back limiting Snodgrass’ attacking output by increasing his defensive workload at the other end of the pitch.
DIEUMERCI MBOKANI VS PAPY DJILOBODJI
Hull are facing a severe crisis up top with 3 of their strikers ruled out. Mbokani falls 4th in the pecking order and is in line to get a surprise start. He has appeared thrice this season with a full game also under his belt. And while he has failed to leave a mark on those occasions, he might emerge as a surprise hero in this match. Djilobodji, who, himself has been inconsistent will look to keep Mbokani quiet.
