Things are going from bad to worse for interim manager Mike Phelan. Hull crashed to their second consecutive league defeat with a humiliating 5-1 loss to Liverpool on Saturday. That’s the second heavy defeat in a week for the Tigers following their 4-1 home loss to Arsenal. It won’t get any easier for Hull this coming Saturday as they will next face powerhouse Chelsea. The Tigers are winless in their eight Premier League meetings against the Blues.
For Hull to record a major upset this coming weekend, they will need to improve on their ball possession. The Tigers only had 26 percent of the ball in Saturday’s loss to Liverpool. As a result, they were outshot by the Merseyside outfit, 32-2. The Tigers can help their cause in that regard by keeping all of their players on the pitch. Hull City have had red cards in each of their last two Premier League games. They can ill afford to be a man down especially against the league’s top sides. As Arsenal and Liverpool have shown, they will clearly punish you.
The Tigers are pegged at +245to score first in this match.
Chelsea’s losing woes show no sign of abating as they suffered an embarrassing 3-0 defeat to bitter rivals Arsenal on Sunday. It was another disappointing result for the Blues who lost to the Gunners for the first time in the league since 2011. The Blues have grabbed just a point in their last three league assignments as they slid down to eighth place in the team standings.
The Blues will look to get their season back on track when they take on Hull City this coming Saturday. They will fancy their chances of doing just that as they have fared extremely well against the Tigers of late. Chelsea have won in each of their last four Premier League meetings against Hull City. The Blues outscored the Tigers, 9-2, during that span.
For Chelsea to grab the much-needed the victory this coming weekend, it’s crucial that they improve on their play on the offensive end. The Blues have scored just once in their last two league matches. To further illustrate their failings on attack, Chelsea’s first shot on target against Arsenal came with just eight minutes remaining in the match. The onus then is on Diego Costa to inject some life to the Blues’ attack. He leads the league in scoring with five goals already this season.
Providing a major boost to under-fire manager Antonio Conte for this weekend’s clash is the return of club captain John Terry. The veteran center-back will help shore up a Chelsea defense that has conceded a whopping nine goals over its last four matches.
The Blues are pegged at -295to score first in this match.
