Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
After a somewhat surprise victory against Southampton a fortnight ago Hull failed to build on that result as they lost an already all important relegation six pointer against Sunderland last Saturday. With Hull still in the bottom three and David Moyes men finally starting their season the need for points becomes even greater and Today they play host to West Brom.
That win against Southampton ended a miserable streak of 6 successive defeats but once again questions will have been asked about their defence as they conceded three unanswered goals to Sunderland last Saturday and let’s be honest they aren’t a team known for their attacking prowess.
You could volley the same criticism at West Brom but this season they are doing their very best to dispel that myth with last Monday showing a new side to The Baggies. They blew Burnley away with three goals in the first 37 minutes to all but wrap a win before the break and with Solomon Rondon added a fourth in the second half it meant that it was the second time this season that Tony Pulis men have scored four goals in a single game.
What makes that even more impressive is the fact that previous to their mauling of West Ham back in September, West Brom had never scored 4 goals in a single game under Tony Pulis. For a team that doesn’t score in droves it shows a change of tact from the West Midlands side.
Couple those goal scoring feats with a win away at champions Leicester before the international break and West Brom are good value for their current 9th place position. With the dozen teams from 9th to 20th in such a congested pattern as of late it just goes to show how important successive wins can be right now.
And that is something that Hull haven’t managed since the opening fortnight of the season when Mike Phelan’s men also beat champions Leicester and also a Swansea who currently find themselves in the bottom three. The bright start certainly surprised many if not everyone but over the last couple of months they have very much reverted to type.
The question now is whether or not Hull can put in a positive performance but when you couple the facts that they have the leakiest defence and also injuries to both Will Keane and Abel Hernandez upfront it doesn’t paint a particularly pleasing picture for The Tigers right now.
Unfortunately for them I think West Brom’s decent spell of form will continue and they will get a third successive win to solidify their top half placing. Not only that but another win would take a huge amount of pressure off of Tony Pulis who earlier on in the season was one of the favourites to win the sack race. An away win for me.
