Opposition Preview - Hull City

Blog written by ad_wilkin
Published: 2nd October 2023 10:31

Another of the EFL’s bright young managers visits Portman Road on Tuesday as Liam Rosenior brings a Hull side who are unbeaten in eight following an opening day defeat to Norwich.

Those results have come with four wins (4-2 Sheffield Wednesday, 2-1 Blackburn, 1-0 Leicester,3-1 Stoke) and four draws (1-1 Bristol City, 1-1 Coventry, 0-0 Leeds, 1-1 Plymouth).

They’ll provide another stern test on Tuesday night under the lights. Following a mid-table finish last year they currently sit fifth place in the table.

Rosenior is in his second job following a brief stint at Derby and has turned Hull into a very solid possession-based Championship side.

<h1>Goalkeepers </h1>

There has been a first-choice keeper change already with Matt Ingram starting the season before being replaced pretty soon by Ryan Allsop following his transfer from Cardiff.

Allsop was a regular for Cardiff last year starting 43 games and keeping 11 clean sheets. He also saved two out of the four penalties that he faced.

Since coming in this season he has kept one clean sheet in his three starts an only conceded two goals in games against Leeds, Stoke and Plymouth. He could be a tough nut for Town to crack.

His transfer and form has left Ingram having to settle for a place on the bench. Ingram has been at Hull since July 2019 following spells at Wycombe and QPR with a few loans also thrown in.

He’s made 106 appearances in his time at Hull conceding 113 goals. He started the first six matches this season but only managed to keep one clean sheet, with poor performances against Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn leaving his position in peril.

Ingram has also been dropped having started in the first-choice position in the last two seasons. Allsop has definitely proved to be an upgrade since coming in and fits more stylistically with Rosenior’s system with his ability with the ball at his feet.

<h1>Defenders </h1>

Right-back and Hull skipper is Lewie Coyle. The 27-year-old joined Hull from Fleetwood in 2020 when Hull were in League One. Much like a lot of Town’s players, he was part of a promotion-winning team and has made the step up to Championship level seamlessly and become a very important part of the squad.

He went off with a concussion injury against Leeds where he was covering the left-back position and hasn’t featured since due to the related protocols. He was back in the squad at the weekend, however, and could be in line to start again against Town.

Starting at right-back against Leeds, Stoke and Plymouth was Cyrus Christie. Picked up on a free in August 2022 Christie comes with a vast amount of experience with 300 Championship appearances across spells at Coventry, Derby, Middlesbrough, Fulham, Nottingham Forrest, Swansea and now Hull.

At all of those clubs he has forced his way into the team and become a regular and will provide a solid dependable option for Rosenior in that position and excellent competition for Coyle.

No one has nailed down the left-back slot as of yet with Ruben Vinagre being the most natural option in that area. The former Wolves player joined on loan this summer from Sporting Lisbon.

Vinagre will be looking to play consistent football having struggled to get break into the team at Sporting or in his loan at Everton last season. That’s not quite gone to plan yet with some questionable performances and centre-backs and right-backs having been used to cover that position instead. He did start against Plymouth on Saturday and had one of his better games.

One of those who has covered the left-back position is natural centre-back Jacob Greaves. The 23-year-old has come through the Hull City academy and now made 142 appearances for the club and has been an ever-present since the 2020/21 season in League One.

He’s right-footed but very comfortable playing on the left side of defence and has been a solid performer so far this season. Greaves missed the game against Plymouth having already picked up five yellow cards but should be back in for this one.

Another one who has spent most of his career so far at Hull having joined from Southampton’s academy is Alfie Jones. He’s made 111 appearances for the club and his partnership with Greaves is now going into it’s fourth season so they should know each other's games inside out. Attacking-wise, Jones has only ever scored one goal for Hull so Town should be safe from set pieces in that aspect.

A left-footed option at centre-half is Sean McLoughlin who has been at the club since 2019 when he was picked up from Irish side Cork City.

Given the form of the other two, McLoughlin has been more of a squad option and can also come in if Rosenior fancies switching to a back three. He also provides yet more height at 6ft in (Jones is also 6ft 2in and Greaves 6ft 3in), so Town will need to look to keep the ball of the deck and play through the defence as crosses probably won’t be too effective in this one.

<h1>Midfield* </h1>

Ahead of that defensive base is a midfield that can play like a 4-2-3-1 but also has the possibility to switch and have the wide left midfielder playing more like a wing-back.

So far it has been Jaden Philogene and Jason Lokilo filling those roles. Philogene has joined from Aston Villa following an impressive season in the Championship with Cardiff last year, which he followed up with some eye-catching performances in Villa’s pre-season tour of the US. He can play on either the right or the left and has chipped in with two assists so far this season.

Lokilo is a new summer signing from Sparta Rotterdam. The 25-year-old Belgian came through the Crystal Palace youth system before finding playing time in Poland and then Holland with a loan in Turkey as well. He returns to English football with a point to prove but has had to make do with appearances off of the bench so far.

Moving into the central area, in the deeper-lying role there are three natural options for Hull. Regan Slater signed from Sheffield United in January 2022 and became a regular starter last season, making 44 appearances, scoring five goals and assisting six.

He is playing a deeper role this season so has not been as productive as those numbers but still has two goals and one assist. One of those goals he scored playing on the left side of the front four, sweeping in from a Philogene cross.

Experience in the centre of the park is brought by 32-year-old Jean Michael Seri. He joined from Fulham in July 2022 and immediately became a key member of the team with his ability to keep the side ticking over and experience reading the game key assets in that holding role. He has played every single game for the club so far and his battle with Morsy in the centre of the park could be a tasty one.

Seri’s experience is complemented by the youth of Tyler Morton. The youngster has joined on loan from Liverpool and will look to build on last season's Championship loan with Blackburn. Morton is highly rated at Liverpool and has made nine appearances for them including two in the Champions League.

He was a regular at Blackburn making 46 appearances across competitions and has put in three good performances so far which included getting his first assist for the club against Stoke. He provides more defensive solidity in that midfield two than Slater but excelled against Plymouth with some excellent dribbling and passing as well.

Ahead of them there is a battle of three into one for the number 10 role. Ozan Tufan started the season in possession, scoring an impressive hat-trick in a 4-2 demolition of Sheffield Wednesday. The former Watford player has found a home with the Tigers having struggled to adapt in his time in Watford.

Tufan lost his place when he suffered a minor injury but was back on the bench for matches against Leeds and Stoke before dropping out of the squad again against Plymouth. If he is fit for this one his playing time is likely to be from the bench.

Taking his place in the side has been 28-year-old Mali international Adama Traore. Traore has previously featured alongside Tufan on the right-hand side of a three cutting inside onto his favoured left foot but is a natural fit in both of those roles.

He is clearly enjoying playing his football again having recovered from a bad hamstring injury at the end of last season but will be looking to add to his numbers with only two goals in 21 appearances so far.

Another option there is Scott Twine. A free-kick specialist who broke onto the scene in his spell at MK Dons and earnt a move to Burnley. However, he struggled with injury throughout last season, only managing 14 appearances.

With Burnley gaining promotion to the Premier League, a Championship loan move beckoned and Hull will consider him a bit of a coup.

Twine has started five games so far but in an unfavoured position on the left of a three. His best performance of the season was playing in the central role against Coventry but there is so much competition in that area and Rosenior is still trying to find the right fit and balance.

He is yet to score a free-kick this season from five attempts, so Town will have to watch out for that as it should only be a matter of time. His conversion rates in previous seasons are 40% (2/5) and 17% (3/36).

<h1>Strikers </h1>

There are two main strikers fighting for one spot in the team currently but much like the 10 role Rosenior is doing his best to fit both of them into his tactics.

Liam Delap joined this summer on loan from Manchester City to add more Championship experience to his previous loan spells at Preston North End and Stoke City.

Delap has had to make do with starting on the right-hand side of the front four so far with Aaron Connolly picked as the main striker. He’s already halfway to his goal tally throughout the whole of last season (four) and also has an assist to his name as he matures into this side.

His work-rate down the right has earnt him that assist with a lovely cross across the box for Tufan to finish and the goals coming thanks to a solo effort against Leicester, cutting inside onto his left to steer one into the far post, and an excellent press against Norwich to pinch the ball off of the defenders and curl past the keeper.

Connolly sits joint second in the scoring charts with five goals and has hit some serious form for the Tigers with a goal every 80 minutes so far. All of those have been smart finishes from inside the box.

The centre forward converted his loan from Brighton into a permanent move this summer despite only featuring five times for them having suffered a serious toe injury.

That is looking to prove a very shrewd investment as he seems to have rediscovered the form that saw him break into the Brighton team and go on to make 45 Premier League appearances.

<h1>The teams </h1>

Another hard one to call in terms of teams with games on Saturday and Tuesday. I’ve perhaps gone quite bold with the number of changes in my selection but we’ll see if McKenna does the same.

Now that Christian Walton is fit there is a decision to be made over the number one. Against Huddersfield, Vaclav Hladky yet again proved his worth with a number of crucial saves.

Harry Clarke was switch at half-time on Saturday and provided Leif Davis doesn’t have any injury issues I can see him coming in on the right. Luke Woolfenden and Cameron Burgess will likely continue in the centre-half roles.

Morsy is certain to come back in after serving his suspension and I've gone for Massimo Luongo partnering him. If Luongo is seen to need a rest then Jack Taylor has shown he can also be very effective in that role and will probably get time off the bench at least.

The front four is where there are probably the most question marks. Wes Burns and Conor Chaplin have started every league game so I’ve got both of them dipping out for this one.

A lot will depends on Nathan Broadhead’s injury ,which if it is more serious I think it could be Omari Hutchinson, Chaplin and Marcus Harness.

Hutchinson has made game-changing contributions in every match he’s played, he links well with Williams and was much more effective on the right-hand side against Huddersfield.

Up front, I think this game at home will suit Freddie Ladapo’s ball to feet style so I can see him starting up top in this one.

For Hull, Allsop has now become their undisputed number one. With Coyle back in the squad there is a question over who will play at right-back. I’ve gone for Christie with Coyle coming in at left-back to provide some more defensive solidity there.

The back two is likely to continue to be Jones and Greaves with McLoughlin dropping back out having filled in during Greaves suspension.

Seri has started every single game so far this season so will almost certainly start at the base of midfield and after Saturday’s performance Morton will feel disappointed if he doesn’t start alongside him.

Like Town, it’s the front four that could have changes to freshen things up. I can see Delap coming in to provide width on the right, Twine switching into the number 10 role with Tufan still not fit enough to make the squad and Philogene switching over to the left, which is not only his most natural position. It is also the side of the pitch where Ipswich have conceded most shots from.

Up front, Connolly should continue and look to add to his goal tally.

<h1>Action Areas </h1>

As just mentioned, Town’s right-hand side has proved to be the weakness in terms of defending chances with the danger coming when teams switch quickly from right to left, usually through a central midfielder.

The Blues come narrow and both central midfielders come over to block off the pass but if it gets through it usually leaves the opposition left winger one on one with Town’s right-back, who is usually positioned in the right centre-back role and has to get across quickly. Williams is arguably better defensively than Clarke and could be tasked with keeping Philogene quiet.

The other area that looks to be crucial is the midfield battle with two combative sets of midfielders. If Twine plays in the 10 role he will potentially sit a bit deeper and make it a midfield three at times.

If this is the case that’s why I can see Harness being given the nod over Chaplin. Chaplin tends to drift over to the right and takes up good positions on the edge of the box but doesn’t fill into the midfield.

When Broadhead plays he drops in to fill the midfield three on occasion but that was something that was lacking against Huddersfield.

Harness is another that fills the role, utilising his pace to start from a deep position than Chaplin but still make clever runs with the ball and drive into the box.

I think Hull will come to Portman Road playing more expressive football than some other teams and that will suit Town, who will be looking to get back to winning ways.

Whenever I predict a bad result for Town we seem to go on and have a great win so I’ll go for a 1-1 draw. I think Hull are a very strong side but stylistically they are the type of team that Town enjoy playing. Having Morsy back will be a big boost but if Broadhead is still missing it could be a lot tougher game.

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