English Premier
2009-12-27 - Hull City vs Manchester United
A Sports Betting Pick by Lamps
Football: England, Premier League
Sunday, 27th December 2009 - Kickoff 16:00
Hull City
Last 5 games at home : P5 - W2-D3-L0 - F8-A6
Phil Brown’s side appear to be on a nice run of form according to the stats above, however this is misleading as Hull has one win in the last 5 games overall defeating an out of sorts Everton. With 2 defeats in the last 3 the pressure is back on Hull and just when the pressures on look who is coming to town on Sunday ... defending champions Manchester United.
So not the most ideal of opponents for Hull who have 10 points fewer this year compared to last year and I don’t expect them to add to this their current tally of 17 points on Sunday.
The tigers have failed to score in the last 3 games and their last goal was in November and that was a penalty! As you can tell Hull have not taken many points when not scoring, in the 7 times this year they have lost 5, what is alarming is that only Blackburn has failed to score in more games than Hull. Sole consolation is that Man United has failed to score in 5 games this year which seems a little high to me; although twice in the last 3 games the Red Devils have been shut out.
It’s worth noting that Hull has not beaten a top half of the table side in 9 attempts this year, losing 8 and conceding 27. I think it’s safe to assume that the Red Devils will score at least once at the KC stadium, the other “top 4 sides” (Chelsea ,Arsenal, Liverpool) scored 2,6 and 3 respectively against Hull this year and for the tigers to keep up they are going to need goals.
Most likely to do so will be Hunt or Geovanni both are the clubs leading scorers with 3 each but goals have been hard to by for Hull this year 17 goals in 18 played is not going to cut it in this league. To beat or even get a result v United I think Hull needs to score twice and this year that’s happened only 4 times, encouragingly enough they did go on to win 3 of these games, but scoring 2 v Wigan and West Ham is different to scoring 2 versus United.
The only team news I can find at the moment is that Barmby is struggling with a calf injury after going off at HT at the Emirates and is unlikely to start.
Predicted Hull City Lineup :
Myhill, McShane, Gardner, Zayatte, Dawson; Boateng, Garcia, Olofinjana, Hunt, Geovanni; Fagan.
Manchester United
Last 5 Away games : P5 - W2-D0-L3 - F8-A7
Champions United enter this game second in the league and trail leaders Chelsea by 4 points. It’s usually now until May when we see United push on and go on heavy winning streaks, this appears to be a nice fixture on paper and Ferguson’s men will know only 3 points are acceptable from their visit to the KC.
Away from home United have actually improved on their title winning form from last year, in 08/09 the Red Devils obtained 13 points from 9 games but this year they have 15 which is the second best in the league. What has been the problem is that Chelsea are just that bit better and hence the 4 point gap.
Despite the 3 losses in the last 5 away games I am not too concerned for United, losses came to Chelsea, Liverpool and Fulham. We know Liverpool always “gets up” for United and Chelsea away is a horrible game for any side. However, it may be the Fulham result that is the most important, that day United were missing many key players due to injury and quite frankly Fulham could have won by more.
The current news coming out of Old Trafford is that Vidic and Giggs are set to return with Rafael and Neville facing late fitness tests to join the current depleted squad. United will still be without the following players though Brown, Evans, Ferdinand, Hargreaves, Nani, O’Shea and Van der Sar. That means a Predicted Lineup: Kuszczak, Rafael, Vidic, Carrick, Evra; Fletcher, Giggs, Park, Valencia; Berbatov, Rooney.
When I look at that team I see a MUCH surer defence now that Vidic is back and lets be honest the Hull attack is no way near as threatening as Roy Hodgson’s Fulham. Vidic will be partnered by Carrick with two recognised full backs either side, this will push Fletcher up into his usual midfield role and the side looks a lot more balanced.
Rooney is due after a quiet game v Fulham, the England front man has 12 league goals this year and I fancy him to get another on Sunday. The champions average 2 goals a game in this league and in a must win game which is will be regardless of the Chelsea result the day before I believe they will score at least 2 with Rooney getting one if not both.
The Betting Verdict
In 12 of United’s games this season they have scored 2 or more which has equated to 11 wins and a goal difference of plus 27!
Hull has conceded 2 in more than half its games this year (10) in them games the tigers lost 8 and drawing once.
Come Sunday night I expect that to read 11 and 9 losses.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Hull 0-2 Manchester United
BEST BETTING TIP :
The bet of Manchester United to win @ 1.45 is a little low for me.Try Rooney to score anytime at evens at VC Bet
Or United to lead by HT which is 2.10 @ Canbet at the moment which looks more than fair
