After a frustrating draw against Burnley, who, considering their poor away form certainly surprised Hull City with a late goal despite going down early on, has pretty much thrown the Tigers back right in the middle of the relegation battle. Marco Silva’s men next visit the defending Champions, Leicester City, as they try to find a way back.
The Foxes look to have got back their mojo as they produced a dominating display against Liverpool last game after the club went through one week of gruelling criticism. Hull have faced Leicester in the Premier League four time before, with both the sides claiming one victory each.
Although Leicester haven’t lost to Hull at King Power Stadium since March 2008, they haven’t won successive games in the league since April 2016. However, Hull have managed to collect just five points from 13 games this season, which is not a very encouraging sign.
Strongest Hull City XI vs Leicester City
Defence
Eldin Jakupovic is expected to start under the bar again. The Swiss international has conceded just 13 goals in 11 games and after he failed to keep the clean sheet, he will be expecting things to turn out positively this week.
The left back’s role is likely to be taken by Andrew Robertson and the right-backs should be taken by Omar Elabdellaoui. Elabdellaoui was subbed off in the final ten minutes as Silva tried to inject more attack to the side. He would be hoping no such scenario arises this time.
The central defensive duo of Harry Maguire alongside new Inter loanee Andrea Ranocchia has been working quite fine for Silva at the moment and there is no reason he would experiment with them now. Skipper Michael Dawson, who is currently sidelined with a calf injury, has definitely been a big miss but he is still a few days away from recovery.
Midfield
The double pivot of Alfred N’Diaye and Tom Huddlestone should be used this time too. The old midfield general got his name on the scoresheet last game, though it was quite instantly cancelled out. With former FC Porto man Evandro Goebel still out for a few days with a calf injury, we expect the Tigers will continue with these two combative midfielders.
Goebel’s injury has forced Silva to change the setup from three midfielders. The number 10 role is expected to be taken by David Meyler this time. The Irish international came off the bench to replace Shaun Maloney in the final quarter last game.
Attack
Kamil Grosicki is expected to start on the left-flank with Lazar Markovic on the right side. Markovic missed the last game with a minor injury and is expected to start this game. With Dieumerci Mbokani out with yet another injury, Omar Niasse is expected to start the game.
