Hull City travel to Selhurst Park to face a Crystal Palace side in good form. Defeat for Steve Bruce’s men could see the Tigers fall into the bottom three as we reach the business end of the season.
Hull sit 17th, outside the bottom three on goal difference are in dire need of a win, having not won in six games. Their last win was a 2-1 win over Queens Park Rangers in February. With a tricky run in for Bruce to think about, including home games against Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United - The Tigers will be hoping for a result on Saturday.
Palace however have continued their little revival under new boss Alan Pardew, having won four of their last five. Last week’s defeat to West Brom was a shock considering the Eagles had defeated the likes of Manchester City and also a convincing 4-1 win away at Sunderland in recent weeks.
In the reverse fixture in October, Hull won 2-0, but this fixture was more of a curse for both sides as they both embarked on long losing streaks. Palace were winless in the next 13 games, costing manager Neil Warnock his job, while Hull didn’t win in 10, so both sides will be wanting to avoid a repeat happening as Palace try to consolidate their strong finishing position in the league.
Matters off the pitch continue to dominate at Hull. It appears the relegation fight on the pitch is matched by a fight between club chairman Assem Allam and the fans over the name change debacle which began early last season. The Egyptian is now fighting Hull City Council as he supposedly laid a 3G pitch at the nearby Airco Arena without the Council’s consent.
Hull manager Steve Bruce has claimed that his side should show no fear in beating the drop as it seems to be a five team battle for survival. Bruce told the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast: “It doesn’t really matter if you’re playing a side at the top, a side in mid-table or a side down at the bottom, they’re all difficult games.
“We just hope that we can perform and get the performance levels up to the degree where we give ourselves a fair chance.
“We’re realistic enough to know that we’ve got a difficult challenge, but we also know that we’ve got as good a chance as anyone of coming out of it right.”
Crystal Palace’s revival has seen winger Yannick Bolasie emerge as the star every team is looking at, prompting manager Alan Pardew to slap a £40m price tag on the 25 year old.
“I’ll sell Yannick, if someone wants to give me £40m to £60m,"
- Alan Pardew
“I’ll take it and we’ll build the team around that money, every player has a price, of course," added Pardew
Not a bad return for Pardew should he pull it off, with Bolasie signing for the club in 2012 from Bristol City for around £400,000. Pardew also went on to say he felt his players are ‘undervalued’: “When I hear figures being talked about players, they are not even close to where I value these players.”
Team News
Palace pair Jordon Match and Chung-Yong Lee return to the side after Mitch recovered from a groin injury while Lee played an hour for the reserves on Tuesday night. However Marouane Chamakh and former Hull loan star Frazier Campbell are still out with hamstring problems.
Injuries are starting to mount up for Hull again as Andy Robertson and Curtis Davies miss out through ankle and thigh problems respectively. They join Nikica Jelavic and Robert Snodgrass on the injury list, with neither likely to return this season. Midfielder David Meyler continues to serve his suspension.
Prediction
Hull have the most to lose here, with a loss seeing them drop into the bottom three, with Leicester and Burnley playing each other, so points are vital for the Tigers, but with Palace in good form and Selhurst Park being a hard place to go, it’s difficult to predict whether Hull will get anything from this game, the absence of Robertson will be greatly felt. Score: 2-1 to Palace.