Hull City vs Chelsea FC: Match preview and predicted line-ups

By grvadmin

This weekend sees the battle of two sides going into this game with their own problems. Hull City started absolutely brilliantly, but they have dropped off the pace over the last few fixtures – culminating in a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Liverpool. Chelsea lost last time out to Arsenal in a humiliating 3-0 defeat, proving just how much of a big job Antonio Conte has on his hands despite a huge array of talent on the books.

Recent form

As previously mentioned, Hull City come into this one without a win in four league games which must be a huge concern. Last time out they got thumped 5-1 by an in-form Liverpool side, and the week before that a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Arsenal wouldn’t have helped with confidence. The last time they got a point on the board was the 1-1 draw with Burnley a few weeks ago.

Chelsea have been on a rapid downward spiral, and they were embarrassed by Arsenal last time out. In the match before that they did manage to scrape an extra-time victory over Leicester City in the EFL Cup, but their league form doesn’t look good. They were also beaten by Liverpool at home thanks to a Jordan Henderson screamer and generally ineffectual attacking play.

Predicted Line-ups

                                                   Hull City predicted starting XI                                    Chelsea predicted starting XI

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Mike Phelan really has a tough job on his hands, and Ahmed Elmohamady has not helped him out by getting a red card. He already has a squad that is looking thin on the ground, and so we will likely see Jake Livermore return to the defence for this one.

Although they lost last time around, I don’t see Chelsea making any real changes to their side. The only man who’s place is at risk is Cesc Fabregas who had a shocker against his former club in Arsenal at the weekend. Oscar should come back into the starting line-up.

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Suspensions and injuries

As we all know, Hull City’s squad has very limited options due to a lack of any real investment over the summer. Their cause has not been helped by an Ahmed Elmohamady red card at the weekend. He’ll now miss this game through suspension. The Tigers still have plenty of players on the treatment table too, including Michael Dawson and Allan McGregor who aren’t expected back anytime soon.

Chelsea’s injury situation isn’t as bad as Hull’s, but they do have themselves a defensive crisis going on both on and off the field. John Terry is still missing due to an ankle problem and it doesn’t look like he’ll be back this weekend. Perhaps the future of their defence is Kurt Zouma, but he doesn’t look like he’ll be ready to go for the foreseeable future.

Our prediction

Although they’ve been atrocious over the last couple of Premier League fixtures, you just cannot look past a Chelsea victory here. Antonio Conte is a world class manager and he will get it right. Hull City were exposed at home to Liverpool last time around, and their misery will continue on Saturday afternoon.

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