There is one match left in the Sky Bet Championship weekend and it comes in the lunchtime kick off on Sunday when two out of form sides meet when Hull City take on Stoke City in what is a big game for both sides you would think.
These two teams will have had different objectives heading into the season but they have a common goal here which is to get a three points which will assist them in achieving the aims they set out with this term.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Main Event and the Sky Sports Football channels. The build-up to the contest begins at 11.30am with the match kicking off at 12pm.
Hull City
Whenever a side gets promoted back into the Championship their initial objective has to be to stay there for a second season so in that regard Hull City are well on track. You could argue they will benefit from a couple of points deductions elsewhere if you wanted to but that isn’t any of their business. All they will care about is that heading into this match they have a four point gap between them and the drop zone and will be looking to increase that to seven points here.
Hull did go through a run of four wins on the spin back in November, and while you could suggest they didn’t beat a whole lot, it did create the cushion they now enjoy. It wasn’t quite so good in December and the early part of January as they have gone four without a win in the league and lost in the FA Cup last weekend so Hull could do with a victory to turn their fortunes around and give them belief for the second half of the campaign.
Stoke City
Stoke City are at the other end of the radar. Their sole intention this season is to get promoted but it is up for debate whether they are on track to achieve that. You would probably have to suggest that they are now as they are now down in tenth place in the table and seven points off the playoffs, albeit with a couple of games in hand. They would certainly want to be closer to the top end of the table than they are but matches are about to come thick and fast which might assist them.
One of the reasons why they have dropped away from the top six is the lack of activity with them having matches cancelled because of Covid but the primary reason is they have won just one of their last six games, scoring just four goals in that period of time. Goal scoring is a bit of an issue for the Potters. They are the lowest scorers in the top 10 this term and that is something that will need to be addressed if they are to go up you would think.
Special Offer
Sign up for a Boylesports account to get up to £25 in free bets! Perfect offer for this Sky Bet Championship! Click the image below for this great offer! New accounts only. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Team News
Grant McCann has confirmed his side will be without five players for this match with Andy Cannon joining an injury list which included Callum Elder, Alfie Jones, Mallik Wilks and Lewie Coyle. One of two of those are back in training but the match comes too soon.
Stoke City could give a league debut to Taylor Harwood-Bellis in this match but it is less clear whether Phil Jagielka and Lewis Baker were signed in time to make their debut for the visitors. Michael O’Neill will be missing from the dugout having tested positive for Covid.
Betting
I don’t think it is ideal that O’Neill is missing from the Stoke City dugout but on the pitch I expect the Potters to have too much in the key areas for Hull City here. We did see some good things out of Hull City last week in their cup defeat to Everton but we also saw that they are a bit green around the edges and they’ll need to tighten that up at some point this season. What was notable last weekend was there is an apathy around Hull City at the minute and I don’t like that so much.
I don’t think Stoke City are as special as some do when judging this division but you only have to look through their squad to see that there is some quality in it and if they are going to go up this season this is a match they should be looking at winning. To be fair to Stoke, they have won three of their last four matches on the road and while they’ll struggle for style points I doubt they would particular care if they collect the league points. If either team does that here I think their experience and that bit of extra quality can ensure it is them.
Tips
WON – Back Stoke City (0AH) to beat Hull City for a 3/10 stake at 1.87 with BetVictor
Back them here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2022
