Hull City vs. Stoke City Prediction, Tips & Odds – Jan. 16, 2022
Only one game remaining to be played in Championship on Sunday.
Hull City
After promotion to the Championship from League One last season, the new life in the second tier didn’t start very well.
In the first 16 games, Hull has won only 2, was in the relegation zone until November, and the biggest problem was inefficiency. They finished 11 of the first 16 games without scoring a goal.
But, things changed a lot from November. Because of the injuries, Grant McCann change the formation from 4-2-3-1 the 3-4-1-2, and that gives results.
Hull was in the run of 4 consecutive wins, six games without a defeat, and got out from the relegation zone. Currently, they are in the run of two consecutive losses but remain above the relegation zone in 19th place.
Their schedule isn’t great in the next couple of weeks because they have to play against teams from the top 10 in the next few rounds.
The problem for Grant McCann can be in injuries. The striker Mallik Wilks is injured, and Josh Magennis leaves the club for Wigan. So, McCann must stick with Tom Eaves and Tyler Smith, who scored only one goal combined. The second problem is the absence of two wing-backs, Callum Elder and Lewie Coyle, who is also injured.
The media from Hull doesn’t expect that team will change too much from the last game in the FA cup against Everton, so McCann will probably start in 3-5-2 formation with Williams and Lewis-Potter (who is the club’s top scorer with five goals) as wing-backs.
2⃣4⃣ hours until we’re back 🏠!#HULSTO🔜#hcafc | #theTigers pic.twitter.com/Us7oeomXQg
— Hull City (@HullCity) January 15, 2022
Stoke City
Injuries ruined last season for Stoke City, and the same scenario can be this season, either.
Until December last season, Stoke was in the top 6, but because of the injuries during the winter, they slipped in 14th place in the second part of the season.
Stoke is in 10th place in the table, but in the run of only one win in the last six games and two consecutive defeats.
Harry Souttar is injured, and he is the best defender in the club; Jordan Thompson is out, goalkeeper Joe Burskik is also a significant player in Nick Powell been out since October… and Stoke falls in the form in the last couple of weeks.
In January, the manager Michael O’Neill tried to find a replacement, and Stoke signed experience defender Phil Jagielka who recently left Derby County.
Nick Powell and Jacob Brown are two top scorers in the Stoke team with five goals. But Powell is injured, and Brown is without a goal from the start of November. Their top assists, Mario Vrancic, is very doubtful for this game.
Are you joining us on Sunday? 🎫#SCFC 🔴⚪️
— Stoke City FC (@stokecity) January 13, 2022
H2H
In the previous two seasons, Stoke and Hull have two victories each. Both teams have won games at home. In their first game at Stoke, the home side wins again with 2-0. In their last 12 league games, nine was finished with under 2.5 goals.
Hull City vs. Stoke City Prediction
The stake is big for both teams because they want to stop their bad run of results. But, both managers have very big problems with injuries. Hull is only 4 points above the relegation zone, and Stoke starts to lose a connection with the teams from the top 6 because they are now 7 points below the top 6 zone.
So, we think that McCann and O’Neill will have a very careful approach to this game, and only one goal can make a difference here.
Hull City – Stoke City UNDER 2.5 GOALS
Odds: 1.64
Bookmaker: Unibet
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