Watching Hull City play their first game under Marco Silva in the League Cup Semi-final against Man Utd and for parts of the game I would not have thought that there were 14 places between the sides in the Premier League. They not only went to Old Trafford to frustrate Man Utd, they also were able to play some decent football. AFCB need to watch out when they travel up to Hull City as one win will put them insight of climbing towards safety.
I was impressed by Hull's make-shift back four. Harry Maguire played extremely well next to Tom Huddlestone and even showed he can come forward with the ball very confidently from the back. Huddlestone is the well proven all-rounder who was not unaccustomed to playing at centre-back to fill in for the injured Dawson. They had a good solid core and Man Utd found them hard to break down. There was a weakness perhaps down their right where David Meyler was tested, but AFCB can possible make something of that at the weekend.
Hull City did not have a great deal in the attacking zone but Robert Sondgrass we know does not need an invitation to shoot and Diomande is a big man that gets in the faces of defenders. They have a lot of injury problems and the new injuries to Henriksen and Weir will cause them to stretch their resources even more when they play AFCB. I expect Hull City to be very determined at home to get a result though and their mid-week performance shows they still have plenty of fight about them. The new manager may well give them extra bounce in front of their home crowd and I see it as a more difficult game than when the Cherries took on Swansea recently. The same determination will be needed to get anything in Europe's new city of culture.
The main necessity will be to score first a s the game could quickly be taken away from AFCB if the home crowd find their voice and the Tigers get in front. Even then there would be the mental barrier for AFCB's players to overcome, having been ahead against Arsenal and only recovered a point. AFCB's players have had a long time to try and get that out of their heads but they'll only manage that when they get a good victory.
Possible AFCB team: 3-2-3-1-1 Boruc (GK), A Smith RB), S Cook (CD), Daniels (LB),
Ibe (RW), Arter (CM), L Cook (CM), Surman (CM), Fraser (LW), Wilshere (FW), Afobe (FW)
Subs: Federici, Mings, Gosling, Stanislas, C Wilson, King, Grabban
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| Five different goal scorers netted against Hull City for AFCB in October, but who will get the goals this time? |
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Hull City did not have a great deal in the attacking zone but Robert Sondgrass we know does not need an invitation to shoot and Diomande is a big man that gets in the faces of defenders. They have a lot of injury problems and the new injuries to Henriksen and Weir will cause them to stretch their resources even more when they play AFCB. I expect Hull City to be very determined at home to get a result though and their mid-week performance shows they still have plenty of fight about them. The new manager may well give them extra bounce in front of their home crowd and I see it as a more difficult game than when the Cherries took on Swansea recently. The same determination will be needed to get anything in Europe's new city of culture.
The main necessity will be to score first a s the game could quickly be taken away from AFCB if the home crowd find their voice and the Tigers get in front. Even then there would be the mental barrier for AFCB's players to overcome, having been ahead against Arsenal and only recovered a point. AFCB's players have had a long time to try and get that out of their heads but they'll only manage that when they get a good victory.
Possible AFCB team: 3-2-3-1-1 Boruc (GK), A Smith RB), S Cook (CD), Daniels (LB),
Ibe (RW), Arter (CM), L Cook (CM), Surman (CM), Fraser (LW), Wilshere (FW), Afobe (FW)
Subs: Federici, Mings, Gosling, Stanislas, C Wilson, King, Grabban
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