Hull City take on Manchester United for the third time in their last seven fixtures and manager Marco Silva will leave them with a clear message. Tighten up in defence or prepare for another defeat.
Ibrahimovic will be licking his lips
The Tigers go into another meeting with Jose Mourinho's men after just missing out on a place at Wembley following a 3-2 aggregate defeat against the Red Devils. Hull looked down and out of the contest after losing 2-0 in the first leg at Old Trafford, though a lacklustre United display at the KCOM let the Premier League strugglers back in. However it is unlikely we will see a similar performance from the most decorated team in Premier League history on Wednesday evening with three points up for grabs.
A concern for Silva will be how his team performed against Championship side Fulham last weekend, particularly in defence. With Jake Livermore now a West Brom player, Tom Huddlestone deputised in an injury-plagued defence but struggled to handle the craft of Chris Martin.
Hull will be without the services of Curtis Davies and Michael Dawson is doubtful, so new signing Andrea Ranocchia could be asked to make an instant debut. The concern will be if Hull are unable to keep Martin quiet, how will they cope with Zlatan Ibrahimovic?
Threat out wide and in the air
Martin was not the only Fulham player who enjoyed a fruitful FA Cup Fourth Round. Wide players Sone Aluko and Ryan Sessegnon were particularly effective, especially down the left as new Hull signing Omar Elabdellaoui lost his radar on numerous occasions. With the possibility of Anthony Martial or Henrik Mkhitaryan likely to occupy such a position, the right-back will have to offer a much more disciplined display.
Another area of weakness for Hull is defending aerial and Mourinho will be weighing up the idea of starting Marouane Fellaini. The Belgian received a barrage of criticism recently after a spell of awkward performances but has responded admirably as he looks to nail down a regular first team spot. With Hull conceding more headed goals than any other top flight team this season, the Tigers will be looking to detain opportunities for crosses.
Hull must take chances
Rarely do Mourinho's United offer up chances, though they did concede two against the Tigers just last week. Hull will have to take any chances that fall their way, with a keen focus lying on Abel Hernandez who missed two penalties against Fulham.
The key to success for Hull will be organisation. They need to be disciplined with their likely ploy of ten players behind the ball and will have to utilise the pace afforded by more offensive players to try and catch United out on the counter-attack.