Hull City host Bristol City at the MKM Stadium in the opening weekend of the Championship on Saturday afternoon.
After both sides flirted with relegation last season, respective managers Shota Arveladze and Nigel Pearson will be hoping for improved campaigns this time around.
Match preview
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2022 represents the beginning of a new era at Hull, after the unpopular Allam family finally sold the club to Turkish media mogul Acun Ilicali in January.
As expected, there has been plenty of squad churn this summer, with Keane Lewis-Potter and George Honeyman two of the most notable departures. Ilicali has clearly used his contacts to bring in Allahyar Sayyadmanesh, Dogukan Sinik, Ozan Tufan and Benjamin Tetteh from his homeland.
In addition, Jean Michael Seri represents an incredibly exciting free transfer after finally delivering on his promise with Fulham during their title-winning campaign last season, with Tobias Figueiredo also providing much needed Championship experience at the back.
Oscar Estupinan represents an intriguing signing in attack, too, after the Colombian bagged 15 goals in Portugal's Primeira Division for Vitoria de Guimaraes last season. If the 25-year-old can adapt to English football, he could prove to be one of the signings of the summer.
Pre-season has generally been a mixed affair, with wins over Malaga and Cambridge United punctuated by defeats to Fenerbahce, Leicester City and Peterborough United. It will be interesting to see how the Tigers kick-off their season against Bristol City on Saturday, but fans may need to be patient before expecting any fireworks.
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It would be fair to assess that Bristol City have had a quieter summer than their forthcoming opponents, with Pearson looking to inject stability into the club following a topsy-turvy campaign.
It is pretty clear where the Robins need to improve on last season: only the top six scored more goals than them, yet only two teams conceded more. Still, few fans could argue they did not get their monies worth at Ashton Gate in Pearson's first full season in charge.
Pearson will hope that Kal Naismith, who has joined for free from Luton Town, in particular can help plug that leaky defence. The 30-year-old was unfortunate not to be named in the Championship team of the season after bringing an excellent combination of ball-playing skills and steely nous to Nathan Jones's defensive unit.
With four clean sheets in six unbeaten pre-season friendlies, including a 1-0 win against Premier League outfit Bournemouth in their final outing, the former Leicester boss appears to be finally stamping his authority on this team.
With Andreas Weimann and Chris Martin ready to score plenty of goals in attack, a spike in clean sheets could prove invaluable as Bristol City aim to march upwards the table. A positive result away to Hull on Saturday could be the start of a successful season.
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Team News
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Aside from young forward Billy Chadwick, who continues to recover from a cruciate ligament injury, Arveladze appears to have a clean bill of health to choose from ahead of his first full season in charge of the club.
Despite being less than enthused with his side's performance in the friendly defeat to Peterborough, the 49-year-old seems to have a fairly clear idea of his first XI at this early stage of proceedings, having fielded the same team against Leicester.
That should ensure debuts for Figueiredo, Seri, Tufan and Estupinan, who are all expected to have big campaigns in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
Bristol City, meanwhile, look likely to be without defender Nathan Baker for the entire season.
Last month, Pearson casted significant doubt over the 31-year-old's future in football after the former Aston Villa man suffered two serious head injuries last season. Baker has not featured since being stretchered off against Sheffield United in November 2021.
That only heightens the need for Naismith to hit the ground running in defence, with midfielder Mark Sykes expected to make his debut away to Hull, too, after signing from Oxford United.
Hull City possible starting lineup:
Ingram; Figueirido, McLoughlin, Greaves; Coyle, Seri, Slater, Fleming; Tufan; Sayyadmanesh, Estupinan
Bristol City possible starting lineup:
Bentley; Vyner, Atkinson, Naismith; Scott, James, Williams, Sykes, Dasilva; Weimann, Martin
We say: Hull City 1-2 Bristol City
Despite both lining up in 3-5-2 formations, we expect to see an open, entertaining game at the MKM Stadium on Saturday.
In truth, the result could go either way, but the visitors look to be a more settled unit at this stage of the season and should be full of confidence after a strong pre-season.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Brett Curtis
