At the start of the season it would have been fair to say that many pundits, TV and armchair alike would have tipped these two sides to go down come May. Well it shows that pundits sometimes know absolutely nothing as they have certainly got 50% of that prediction wrong.
Burnley’s sensational home form looks like it will be enough to see them stay up at the end of the campaign even though they have still failed to win away at home. They will look for a first win on the road this Afternoon as they travel to the KCom Stadium.
But with Burnley’s apparent aversion to wins on the road this is not going to be an easy task especially as Hull are going through somewhat of a resurgence under Marco Silva. Many asked the question ‘who?’ when he was appointed in January but their certainly can be no complaints from Hull as he has managed to give a club a much needed resurgence.
A win later Today and should go results go their way they could find themselves outside of the bottom three. It really is fine margins with just 3 points separating Middlesbrough in 16th and Sunderland who find themselves at the foot of the table at present.
Hull’s last action was a fortnight ago when they beaten 2-0 by Arsenal. It certainly was not a vintage Arsenal victory and had Hull managed to take the few chances they had in the first half then we could have been looking at a very different outcome.
The turning point of the game was no doubt the point when Alexis Sanchez handled the ball over the line to put Arsenal ahead. Was it deliberate, perhaps not but when you are a club fighting for relegation they are the decisions that undoubtedly hurt the most.
It’s 7 points from a possible 15 since Marco Silva was appointed as manager, a record that is certainly not to be sniffed at. Should he manage to get that tally into double figures after a win over Burnley and the wheels in motion for this survival push will really begin to pick a pace.
They go up against a Burnley who held champions elect Chelsea to a 1-1 draw at Turf Moor a fortnight ago. Robbie Brady’s fantastic free kick cancelling out Pedro’s early opener. You could argue that it was more a battling point for Chelsea due to the fact that so many have failed there this season.
But it would be Burnley who would fail there last Saturday as they were dumped out of the F.A. Cup by non-league Lincoln City of the National League. Sean Dyche made 6 changes from that draw with Chelsea and was punished as Danny Cowley’s side ran out 1-0 winners.
Did Burnley need to make so many changes what with Premier League status all but secured or does that just show how far the competition has fallen in stature? The questions that can be debated but there is no debate that Sean Dyche would have let his players know his dissatisfaction at the result.
Will a rocket from Dyche give Burnley the boost they need to finally go and earn a first away win of the season or will Hull look to make it a third home win in a row after wins over both Bournemouth and Liverpool, I have a feeling it will be the latter. Hull win for me.