The Sky Bet Championship returns from the international break on Friday evening when Hull City play host to Luton Town in a match which could see the winner make a big move up the table ahead of the rest of the matches this weekend.
Hull City go into the match just two spots above the relegation zone but could go up nine places with a win. Luton can move up to fifth should they come out on top so we should be in for a decent contest to get the action underway again.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football channels with the build-up at the MM Stadium beginning at 7.30pm and kick off coming at 8pm.
Hull City
When you consider they have had two weeks to do it, sacking manager Shota Arveladze on game day doesn’t scream sense at us but he might well have known that writing was on the wall because their form prior to the international break had been terrible. The Tigers actually made a positive start to their season with three wins in their opening six games but four heavy defeats on the trot sent them plummeting down the table and has cost the Georgian his job.
The big problem for the Tigers has been keeping the ball out of their net. In the last six matches they have conceded 18 times and that is clearly not a recipe for success in any way. They did find the net 11 times in their opening seven outings but have been shut out in their last three games and with performances and results getting worse something had to give, even if the timing of it was more than a little on the strange side.
Luton Town
The Hatters have gone the other way to their opponents here. It took them until their fifth match to pick up their first three points this season but they went into the international break with three wins in their last six and will know only too well they should have got more from the other three having taken the lead in all of them. That has been a bit of an issue for Luton this term but they have had to do without key defensive players at times.
Those players have all returned recently though and it is no surprise they are going as well as they are. After struggling a bit in front of goal in the early stages of the season as they overcame the inevitable hangover of losing in the play-offs, they now have seven goals in their last four matches and are starting to look like the Luton which finished in the top six last season. A win here will move them up to fifth so they have plenty of incentive to go after the win in this one.
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Team News
Dogukan Sinik could make his Hull City debut in this match but Harvey Vale will miss out. The Tigers will monitor the fitness of top scorer Oscar Estupinan who was playing for Colombia in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Luton have a similar issue with defender Amari’I Bell with Fred Onyedinma or Alfie Doughty waiting in the wings should they be needed. Elijah Adebayo and Harry Cornick are fit again after missing the win over Blackburn.
Betting
When this fixture was on the horizon I really liked the idea of the over in this match but the fact that Hull might be without their top scorer Oscar Estupinan I’m less enthused by it. You would have to say the news that Hull have sacked their manager on the morning of the match has only gone to make this one a little harder to bet on so I’m going to pick one out from the side markets rather than try to predict how the match will go.
That bet comes in the form of Jordan Clark to have a shot on target. Whenever I’ve seen Hull City this season they have liked to pass it out from the back and Luton love a team who do that as their high press becomes a huge factor in the game. Clark is key to that press and I expect him to get plenty of touches in and around the box. If you look purely at the numbers this season you wouldn’t think Clark would do much but he has played as a defensive midfielder in the early stages of the campaign. He’ll be utilised further forward here though and can test the keeper even if he doesn’t find the net.
Tips
Back J.Clark 1+ Shots on Target for a 3/10 stake at 2.40 with Betfair
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