Hull City's search for their first Championship win since New Year's Day will continue on Friday night when they welcome Swansea City to the KCOM Stadium.
The Tigers suffered a 3-0 defeat at Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday, while Swansea will enter this match off the back of a goalless draw at home to Queens Park Rangers on the same night.
Match preview
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Hull's struggles continued at Ewood Park on Tuesday evening as they suffered a 3-0 defeat at Blackburn. The Tigers have now lost five of their last six in the Championship to drop down into 15th position in the table.
Chris McCann's side are still 10 points clear of the relegation zone, though, and are, in many ways, fortunate that they have credit in the bank due to a decent first half of the 2019-20 campaign.
Two key attackers in the shape of Kamil Grosicki and Jarrod Bowen both left the KCOM Stadium during the winter transfer window, while McCann's squad has been hit with injuries.
Not since New Year's Day away to Sheffield Wednesday have they managed to pick up a win in the Championship, and the fact that they have promotion hopefuls Preston North End and Leeds United in two of their three matches after this one will surely be concerning to the supporters.
Hull have won five of their last seven matches against Swansea in all competitions, though, including a 3-2 success when the two teams last locked horns at the KCOM Stadium in December 2018.
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Swansea have seen their hopes of a top-six finish take a hit following a four-game winless run in the Championship. Indeed, the Welsh outfit have not picked up all three points in a league affair since recording a 2-1 success over Wigan Athletic on January 18.
Since then, Steve Cooper's side have drawn with Preston and QPR, in addition to losing to Stoke City and Derby County - a run of results that has left them in 10th spot in the table.
The Swans are only six points of the top six as things stand, though, and will surely be targeting victories in their next two against Hull and Huddersfield Town.
Not since December 2014 in the Premier League have Swansea beaten the Tigers on their travels, though, and they are without a win away from home in the Championship since December 21.
Hull's obvious issues mean that Cooper's side will be confident ahead of Friday's affair, however, and there is simply no downplaying the importance of the contest to both teams.
Hull Championship form: LLLLDL
Hull form (all competitions): LLLLDL
Swansea Championship form: DWLDLD
Swansea form (all competitions): DWLDLD
Team News
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Hull's injury list remains fairly substantial with James Scott, Josh Bowler, Martin Samuelsen, Matthew Pennington, Jordy de Wijs, Kevin Stewart, Eric Lichaj, Herbie Kane and Jon Toral all still unavailable for selection.
On-loan Marcus Maddison should keep his spot in an attacking area, but it would not be a surprise to see McCann shuffle his pack from the defeat at Blackburn.
Indeed, Tom Eaves is pushing to replace Josh Magennis in the final third, while 18-year-old Keane Lewis-Potter will also be hoping to be involved from the start.
Swansea, meanwhile, have been hit with the news that midfielder George Byers will be out for the rest of the season with the ankle injury that he picked up against Derby County last weekend.
Mike van der Hoorn and Jordon Garrick also still on the sidelines through injury, but Cooper's side did not pick up any fresh issues against QPR on Tuesday night.
Aldo Kalulu is pushing to be involved from the start having come off the bench against the R's, although on-loan Liverpool forward Rhian Brewster, who has scored twice in the Championship since arriving at the Liberty Stadium in January, is again expected to lead the line.
Hull possible starting lineup:
Long; Lopes, McKenzie, McLoughlin, Elder; Batty, Honeyman; Maddison, Irvine, Lewis-Potter; Eaves
Swansea possible starting lineup:
Woodman; Roberts, Rodon, Guehi, Naughton; Ayew, Gallagher, Grimes, Dhanda, Celina; Brewster
We say: Hull City 1-2 Swansea City
Hull continue to slide down the table as they struggle for results, and it is difficult to back the hosts with any real confidence here. Swansea are also without a win in their last four in the Championship, but we fancy Cooper's side to pick up an important three points in this match.
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 win with a probability of 40.36%. A win for had a probability of 34.29% and a draw had a probability of 25.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.07%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.71%) and 2-0 (6.59%). The likeliest win was 0-1 (8.24%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.97%).
