After a brilliant win over Southampton last game week, Hull City will be visiting Sunderland this weekend who have finally picked up their first win of the season against Bournemouth last week after a horrible start to their Premier League campaign.
It could be a tricky fixture for Hull City as a host of players will be returning for Sunderland and things are finally looking positive for the Black Cats. One good thing is Sunderland have not won any of their last four games against the Tigers.
It will be a bottom of the table battle with both the teams reeling in the relegation zone. A win here could put Hull out of the red zone depending on how results go elsewhere. Hull are currently in the 18th position while Sunderland continue to stay rock bottom.
Defence
After the newly formed five-man defence that helped the Tigers not only to keep Southampton at bay but also have the edge in the match, we expect Mike Phelan to continue the same setup. Hull are expected to keep the wing deployment against Sunderland, who have largely been toothless in attack.
Left midfield Samuel Clucas will be starting wide at the left flank with Ahmed Elmohamady on the farthest right side. Their workrate has been crucial in the formation clicking and the same will be expected of them come Saturday. Captain Michael Dawson will take his position at the heart of the defence pairing with Harry Maguire and Curtis Davies. A well-guarded defence, the tactics prevents from losing a game.
Midfield
Jake Livermore has started showing his quality upon being promoted to the defensive midfield position from the centre-back. Ryan Mason’s performance has been commendable against Southampton and Phelan will hope the English midfielder will keep the club’s rejuvenating form.
The pivotal position of Hull seems more balanced and secure with the duo sitting in front of the back three. Tom Huddlestone is expected to start from the bench. His substitution helped the Tigers in defending well late in the last game. The number 10 position will be taken by Markus Henriksen who will feed the passes up front.
Attack
With major injuries to two of its strikers, Mike Phelan will have to start up with Robert Snodgrass, who is sublime form scoring 4 and assisting 1 for Hull till now, and Dieumerci Mbokani.
