Preview: Hull City vs West Bromwich Albion - prediction, team news, lineups

Aiming to strengthen their grip on a top-six position, Hull City host West Bromwich Albion at The MKM Stadium in the Championship on Saturday afternoon.

The Tigers enjoyed a roaring success at the home of the Lions last time out, whilst the Baggies battered the in-form Blades in the Black Country.

Match preview

After beating Luton Town to Championship safety courtesy of a superior goal difference at the end of last season, Hull City are fighting to compete at the top end of the division this time around, with a Premier League return following a nine-year absence on the minds of supporters.

Since the sobering 4-1 home defeat to Middlesbrough to commence their December duties, the Tigers have enjoyed back-to-back wins in the league, easing past the attentions of Wrexham before picking up a 3-1 triumph at Millwall last weekend.

Winning three of their most recent quartet of second-tier battles, Hull are currently occupying sixth spot in the Championship standings ahead of Saturday's hosting of West Brom, one point ahead of Stoke City in seventh.

Scoring all of the Tigers' five goals across consecutive wins against Wrexham and Millwall, Kyle Joseph and Oli McBurnie are the men of the moment at the MKM Stadium, although Leeds United loanee Joe Gelhardt leads the Golden Boot race with 10 league strikes.

Despite ranking a respectable sixth in terms of home form, Sergej Jakirovic's men have struggled on home soil over the past month, losing heavily to the likes of Ipswich Town and Middlesbrough, handing hope to this weekend's visitors.

After a challenging and pointless start to the festive schedule on the road, West Bromwich Albion enjoyed some much-needed home comforts last Friday night, when they extended their unbeaten run at The Hawthorns to seven matches (W4 D3) with a 2-0 success over Sheffield United.

Bagging the first goal of the contest with a near-post finish which is becoming a trademark at the Birmingham Road end of Albion's ground, Aune Heggebo has been dubbed the Championship's answer to Erling Haaland, with the 24-year-old scoring seven goals in as many matches recently.

Following a solid triumph over Chris Wilder's Blades last time out, West Brom are currently occupying 16th place in the Championship standings ahead of a weekend trip to Humberside, six points off the playoff pace.

Preventing Ryan Mason's men from genuinely competing for a top-six berth so far, Albion have lost each of their last seven league outings, with their most recent away success arriving against Liam Manning's Norwich City back on October 1.

The job status of the Baggies' 34-year-old boss has been thrown into serious doubt amid a string of leaky away displays, with Saturday afternoon's visitors conceding nine goals across their last three games away from The Hawthorns.

Hull City Championship form: L L W L W W

West Bromwich Albion Championship form: L D W L L W

Team News

A Championship promotion winner with the Baggies in 2020, Hull's Semi Ajayi is away on international duty with Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Tigers' options at the back are reduced further by the absence of Brandon Williams, who is battling with a calf injury.

A major miss in the engine room of West Brom, Alex Mowatt remains a doubt this weekend because of a foot problem.

With Toby Collyer also in the medical room, the visitors should continue with a midfield pairing of Jayson Molumby and Ousmane Diakite.

After a shaky start to life at right-back, George Campbell has beaten former Chelsea man Alfie Gilchrist to that spot in the back four of the Baggies.

Hull City possible starting lineup:

Pandur; Coyle, Egan, Hughes, Giles; Slater, Hadziahmetovic, Belloumi, Crooks, Millar; Joseph

West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:

Wildsmith; Campbell, Phillips, Bielik, Styles, Molumby, Diakite, Johnston, Price, Grant; Heggebo