Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
The final fixture of this bumper Boxing Day schedule sees Hull play host to Manchester City at The KCom Stadium. Hull go into this fixture bottom of the table at the start of the day and also three points from safety, they will be hoping that other results don’t go against them making their task of staying up even harder.
It’s a task which isn’t helped by the fact that they have conceded 36 goals this season, an average of more than two per league fixture. This a figure only beaten by the shambolic Swansea defence which has gone one worse and shipped 37.
And it’s not just the amount of goals they have conceded. They have only scored 14 at the other end which means they have the unwanted record of being the lowest scorers in the league at present. They are returning less than 1 per game on average and a new striker must be top of the shopping list in the January sales.
It’s also a club that has not won since November 6th when they beat Southampton 2-1 in front of their own fans. That’s a run of results which has seen them not earn a victory in their last six matches. All these stats are painting a pretty bleak picture for Mike Phelan’s men.
And it will not get any easier for them this Evening as Manchester City come to town later this evening. After a blip early in the month they come here after back to back home defeats where they beat both Watford and Arsenal to move back up to 3rd in the Premier League.
Early in last Sunday’s game with Arsenal many would have thought it was set to be another defeat after such a poor start to the game but it’s not necessarily how you start it’s how you finish. Arsenal’s second half collapse allowed City to overturn their first half deficit thanks to goals from Leroy Sane and the winner from David Silva.
The goals may have had an element of fortune to them in regards to offside decisions but Arsenal were so meek in the second half it would have been harsh on City had they not come away with all three points. A win that was all important as defeat would have seen them slip to 5th in the table behind both Arsenal and Spurs.
There are still questions about City’s stability at the back and whether or not Pep Guardiola will be tempted to go and purchase another Centre Back when the transfer window reopens next week but what Mike Phelan would give for a defence like Tonight’s opposition.
Once again City have to do without Sergio Aguero. This is the third game of his four match ban and he will return for the all important clash with Liverpool on New Years Eve. But even without Aguero there is going to be more than enough attacking talent at Guardiola’s disposal to create Hull a litany of problems.
And it’s that talent which is going to really enjoy themselves against this leaky Hull defence. I honestly can’t see anything other than a City win especially as Hull are chronically both at both ends of the pitch right now. A routine away win for me.
