Football – England – Championship
Saturday 12th January 2013 – Kickoff: 1720hrs
It’s off to the KC Stadium again as I turn to my ‘go-to’ team Hull City when they take on Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship late kick-off on Saturday evening.
I’ve tipped Hull City seven times so far this season and The Tigers have repaid my faith in them on six occasions, so I’ll back them once again at home to overcome a struggling Sheffield Wednesday outfit who have won just three away matches so far all season.
Hull City are unbeaten in their last eight Championship matches which includes wins over Nottingham Forest, Watford, Huddersfield Town, Derby County and Leeds United and draws against third placed Crystal Palace, fifth placed Leicester City and Blackpool. Their home record has been pretty solid too which stands at 8-2-3 20/11 with only Cardiff City (8 goals conceded) having a better defensive record at home in the league.
The Tigers have suffered just one defeat on home ground in their last eight which was a surprising 0-1 loss to Burnley, but Hull’s strong defensive record which includes six clean sheets should again be able to contain the visitors today. Hull City have never been what you’d call a high-scoring kind of team but they do have a few key dangerous players in the shape of Robert Koren (6 goals, 4 assists), Sone Aluko (8 goals, 3 assists) and Jay Simpson (5 goals, 7 assists) who are all capable of creating and scoring goals.
Sheffield Wednesday lost 0-2 at home to Burnley on New Years Day which ended their ‘mini-revival’ of four matches unbeaten which included wins over Barnsley, Charlton Athletic and Bolton along with a point earned at Huddersfield Town. However, before this upturn in form, The Owls suffered a string of defeats (7 in total) and their home loss to Burnley may well be a sign of them reverting to type.
Three of the promising results above though were achieved on the road and away from Hillsbrough they may fancy their chances of getting at least a point again on their travels. Sheffield Wednesday’s overall away form though suggests that they may be in for a tough afternoon at the KC Stadium with a record of 3-3-7 12/17 and as one of the lowest goalscoring teams away from home (aside from Derby County and Ipswich Town – 11 goals apiece), they face a solid defensive unit in Steve Bruce’s men.
In fact, The Owls have failed to score away from home on six occasions so far this term. Michail Antonio (4 goals, 6 assists) along with Miguel Llera and Chris O’Grady (4 goals each) will try and produce the much-needed spark, but I can’t see them getting any change out of Hull’s defence here.
Whilst they won’t be taking anything for granted, nevertheless, Hull City will be ear-marking this match as a three-pointer particularly with Cardiff City now having stretched their lead at the top to seven points, Bruce’s side will be wanting to close that gap and keep the other teams below them at bay. I’ll take Hull with the handicap here to win today and hopefully by a clear 2 goals – could be a 2-0 win for Hull.
Pick: Hull City AH-0.75 @ 1.85 bet365
