Hull City’s impressive 10-match run without defeat in the Championship was suddenly brought to a halt last weekend when they suffered a heavy 3-0 defeat away at Blackburn Rovers in what was a lacklustre display by The Tigers.
Hull City manager Nigel Adkins will demand a much better showing this time around at the KCOM Stadium when they play host to Stoke City, especially if Hull have ambitions to be amongst the candidates for a play-off place later in the season.
That said, the loss at Blackburn was only Hull’s second defeat in their last 15 league matches and Adkins should receive the plaudits for how he’s turned the club around since his appointment back in December 2017 after replacing former manager, Leonid Slutsky.
After a slow and disappointing start to the season which saw Hull record just two home wins from their first 10 matches played, The Tigers have clicked into gear with four wins on the trot over Brentford, Swansea City, Bolton Wanderers and Sheffield Wednesday, scoring a total of 14 goals during this impressive winning streak.
Forwards Bowen (14 goals) and Campbell (9 goals) have enjoyed the service and creativity of Grosicki (4 goals, 6 assists) playing just behind them.
Before the Championship season kicked off, newly relegated Stoke City were amongst the favourites for automatic promotion back up to the Premier League, and although they lost influential attacking midfielder Xerdan Shaqiri to Liverpool, the likes of goalkeeper Jack Butland, midfielders Allen and Fletcher, along with forward Crouch remained at the club.
However, as the season unfolded under new manager Gary Rowett, it was clear that Stoke’s ambitions of a swift return to the top flight were going to be severely tested and ultimately, this campaign has been a very disappointing one indeed.
Rowett was shown the door after gaining just 9 wins from his 29 matches in charge, and was recently replaced by former Luton Town manager, Nathan Jones in early January. However, since his appointment, little has changed under Jones as The Potters have lost two of the three matches he’s been in charge with defeats to Brentford and Preston North End.
The latter defeat to Preston was particularly hard to fathom after Stoke had registered a 2-1 home win over Championship league leaders, Leeds United, but the same old inconsistencies seem to be continually evident.
But one thing that seems constant where Stoke are concerned are that goals continue to flow as 8 of their 14 away matches have resulted in over 2.5 goals with the visitors scoring in 11 of their 14 away matches to date as well.
Midfielders Allen and Ince (6 goals apiece) seem to represent Stoke’s best chances of scoring here, but the new addition of loan striker Vokes from Burnley will also bolster the visitors’ attack.
Both teams will be seeking a win here, and so the over 2.5 goals option looks appealing.