Hull v Liverpool - A Scrappy Encounter?

Hull City v Liverpool Preview

There’s two midweek Barclays Premier League games this week, with Hull City and Liverpool on Tuesday, and Leicester City v Chelsea on the Wednesday. So, first up, the battle from the KC Stadium, where Liverpool travel to Hull, with both teams scrapping for their desired league position; Hull fighting relegation, and Liverpool trying to secure that Champions League spot, ahead of United, Arsenal and City.

Hull’s chances of staying up were boosted of course over the weekend, with their first league win in seven, courtesy of N’Doye’s brace. Hull City edged the majority of possession in the game, and had 21 shots at goal (7 on target) in total, compared to Palaces 7 (3 on target).

Hull City have won just one of the seven Barclays Premier League matches against Liverpool (W1 D3 L3), and have failed to score in 3 of their last 4 against the reds.

Hull haven’t kept consecutive clean sheets in the Premier League since 2013, and haven’t won back-to-back league games since February, when beating Villa, then QPR, both at the KC.

Despite a total of 74% possession away to West Brom, once again like a few times this season, Liverpool failed to take their chances, and managed just 5 shots on target from 22 shots at goal. 

Liverpool’s spending and transfers not good enough once again, especially up-front, when needing to replace Suarez;

Lambert – Decent player, very good in the air. The fact it was his dream club, and he was stacking shelves a few years ago, it was a ‘fairy tale’ transfer more than anything, which hasn’t paid off.

Ballotelli – What words can you use to describe this man…..There’s no doubt he has technical ability. If the signing pulls off; he settles and is banging in the goals, then it’s an absolute bargain for £16 million, but is the biggest risk in World football.

Borini – If memory serves me correctly, this player wanted to re-join Sunderland (on loan, or make a permanent move), but Rogers and Liverpool told him he couldn’t go, and should fight for his first team place. And he’s hardly stepped foot on a football pitch all season!
**Turns out I was mistaken about Borini, and it was him who wouldn't go, and wanted to fight for his place. I wonder if money influenced the decision......

And this is all after the £30+ million signing of Andy Carroll, what a fiasco that was!

And it was confirmed today that Sturridge may not feature again this season, as he struggles to shake off a hip problem. Sturridge has made just 12 starts in 2014/15, and is now out with his 15^th injury since joining Liverpool in January 2013.

Liverpool travel to Hull with just 8 wins from their 16 league games, away from home, so far this season, and with Hull’s confidence high after their weekend result, it will surely be a tough night for the reds. I can picture a scrappy encounter, with plenty of missed chances, and probably points shared, with both teams scoring.