Both Hull City and Cardiff City will be looking to make it back-to-back wins in the Championship when they lock horns at MKM Stadium on Friday afternoon.
The home side, who sit 20th in the table, will enter the contest off the back of a 1-0 victory at Middlesbrough, while 17th-placed Cardiff were 2-1 winners over Reading last time out.
Match preview
© Reuters
Hull are unlikely to finish any lower than 20th this season, currently sitting seven points clear of 21st-placed Reading, but they are only five points behind 17th-placed Cardiff leading into the next set of fixtures, so there is the potential for them to move higher up the division over the next few weeks.
The Tigers secured a return to the second tier by winning League One last season, so consolidating back at this level of football was always going to be their number one priority this term.
Shota Arveladze has been in charge of the club since January, boasting a record of four wins, three draws and seven defeats from his 14 matches at the helm.
Hull suffered back-to-back home losses to Luton Town and Huddersfield Town either side of the international break but managed to return to winning ways in impressive fashion on Saturday, as Keane Lewis-Potter's 74th-minute effort secured all three points at the Riverside Stadium against Middlesbrough.
The Tigers recorded a 1-0 victory over Cardiff in the reverse match between the two sides earlier this season, but they have lost three of their last five Championship fixtures with the Welsh outfit.
© Reuters
Cardiff, meanwhile, will enter Friday's contest off the back of a 2-1 victory at Reading on Saturday, with Will Vaulks netting what proved to be the winner in the 85th minute of the match in Berkshire.
The Bluebirds finished eighth in the Championship last season but have found it more difficult this term, with a total of 49 points from 40 matches leaving them down in 17th position in the table.
Steve Morison's side have been in impressive form in recent weeks, though, winning four, drawing one and losing one of their last six matches in the second tier of English football.
Cardiff's away record this season is relatively strong considering their spot in the table, picking up 25 points from their 19 matches, and they will be taking on a Hull side with the worst home record in the second tier this season, having collected just 18 points from 20 matches.
The Welsh outfit do not have anything substantial to fight for in the final weeks of the campaign but will certainly want to finish as high as possible before resetting for the 2022-23 campaign.
- L
- D
- W
- L
- L
- W
- W
- W
- D
- W
- L
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Hull boss Arveladze revealed during his pre-match press conference that only Randell Williams remains unavailable for selection, with the home side otherwise having a full-fit squad.
Allahyar Sayyadmanesh was named in the starting lineup against Middlesbrough last time out, and the 20-year-old might have done enough to keep his spot at centre-forward for this match despite the return of Tom Eaves from suspension.
Greg Docherty is in line for a recall in midfield, though, with the Scot potentially replacing Regan Slater in the starting XI on Friday afternoon.
As for Cardiff, Sean Morrison, Max Watters and Alex Smithies remain unavailable for selection, but the Welsh outfit have no fresh injury concerns ahead of the match.
As a result, the starting XI is expected to be similar to the one that took to the field for the first whistle against Reading last time out, with Jordan Hugill again leading the line.
There could potentially be a change in the middle of the park, though, with Vaulks, who came off the bench to score the winner against the Royals, possibly replacing Joe Ralls.
Hull City possible starting lineup:
Ingram; McLoughlin, Greaves, Jones; Longman, Smallwood, Docherty, Fleming; Honeyman, Sayyadmanesh, Lewis-Potter
Cardiff City possible starting lineup:
Phillips; Drameh, Ng, Nelson, Bagan; Vaulks, Wintle; Colwill, Doyle, Doughty; Hugill
We say: Hull City 1-2 Cardiff City
Cardiff's recent run of form deserves a lot of respect, and the club's supporters will at least be feeling hopeful for next season. Hull are capable of making this an uncomfortable match for their opponents, but the Tigers have been so disappointing at home this season, and we are backing the visitors to triumph here.
Matt Law
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Cardiff City win with a probability of 36.02%. A win for Hull City had a probability of 35.35% and a draw had a probability of 28.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Cardiff City win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.82%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (7.59%) and 0-2 (6.74%). The likeliest Hull City win was 1-0 (11.68%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.31%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 7.5% likelihood.
