Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Editor’s Note: Article written before Tuesday’s Premier League action
You get the feeling that these two sides may be a bit bored of seeing each other as this is the third time these two will face off in as many weeks. The current tally is at one win a piece although Manchester United have the extra edge of EFL Cup Final progression over Tonight’s opponents who are once again Hull.
The setting was different 6 days ago as Hull made life tough for United in the EFL Cup Semi Final 2nd leg after a 2-1 win at The KCom Stadium. A spirited win for Marco Silva’s men but they left themselves with too much to do after a 2-0 defeat from the first leg.
They go into this game a player lighter in what is already a relatively small squad what with Robert Snodgrass finally departing the club. The Scottish international had a trio of clubs chasing his services but the 29 year old has settled on a move to West Ham which has raised the club £10.2million.
That means there is an extra £20m in the club coffers but if you were to ask Hull fans they would without doubt prefer to have both the services of Snodgrass and the other recent departed player Jake Livermore who is now plying his trade at West Brom.
They may have had a spirited win in that EFL Cup tie but the league tells a different story, in their last outing they were beaten by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Again there was no lack of effort especially in the first half but after going behind they never really looked like getting into the game.
But with Oumar Niasse now at the club there is some hope that they can find the goals required to keep them in the top flight. It was his goal that only opened his account for the club but also gave Hull the victory over Jose Mourinho’s men.
For United there may have been an aggregate victory but there was not much cause for celebration as a run of 17 games without defeat finally came to an end and with no disrespect meant to Hull fans not many would have expected The Tigers being the club to end that impressive run of results.
But as good as that run was for United, they still happen to find themselves 6th in the table and after back to back league draws they are in danger of losing further ground should they not manage to beat Hull for the second time this month.
Their last league outing saw them snatch a point away at Stoke. A game that United should have won when looking at the post match stats but it will be remembered for one thing only and that is the fact that Wayne Rooney finally made history by scoring his 250th goal for the club to surpass Sir Bobby Charlton’s tally of 249
And it was a goal certainly worthy of breaking a record, a sumptous free kick in the last seconds of the game meant that United would not leave the Bet365 Stadium empty handed although Jose Mouriho would have considered it two points dropped as any hopes of launching a title bid evaporate further.
But after what must be said an embarrassing defeat to Hull last week, I can’t see lightning striking twice. Defeat for Hull will no doubt be a setback but it’s not to unexpected either. Both the Chelsea game and this one represent free hits in effect and anything they can get would be a considered a huge bonus.
If Hull are to beat the drop then they need to win the games against the teams in and around them. The 3-1 home win over Bournemouth would have been positive proof of that. As for Tonight though I can’t see anything other than a home win as United stay in touch with the teams chasing a Champions League place come May. Home win for me.
