Manchester City vs Hull City
English Premier League
Date: Saturday, 8th April 2017
Kick-off at 15:00 UK / 16:00 CET
Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester.
Pep Guardiola's side have won just one of their last six matches in all competitions.
While they are fourth in the Premier League, Arsenal and Manchester United could close to a point behind if they win their games in hand.
Guardiola conceded after the 2-1 defeat to Chelsea on Wednesday that the title is "gone".
"It's between Chelsea and Tottenham now," he said. "Now we have to think about qualifying for the Champions League and finishing in the top four."
Hull have moved out of the relegation zone after earning three wins in their last four games.
The Tigers have beaten West Ham and Middlesbrough in the last week and have taken 17 points from 11 games since Marco Silva's appointment in early January.
Predicted Line-ups
Guardiola has opted for a different formation in each of his last three games, continuing a trend shown throughout the seasons of changing things regularly. At times this has left pundits and commentators perplexed as to which players are starting where when the teamsheets are given out. Midweek 4-2-3-1 was favoured, as it was in their last home game against a team outside the top-six, so this seems most likely.
Marco Silva has followed a similar style, particularly in his mission to pick up points on the road. In their last seven matches, Hull have lined up in no less than six varying formations. The one which appears most suited for the trip to Manchester is 4-1-4-1, particularly after the 5-4-1 experiment at Everton went so badly wrong.
Manchester City
Pep Guardiola’s team is without a win for the last three games in Premier League. Currently, they occupy the fourth position with 58, threatened by Arsenal and Manchester United with 54.
Despite City were beaten only once at Etihad this season, their home record is not so bright as they registered 6 draws and only 7 wins. Guardiola’s defense is visibly struggling recently as they were unable to keep a clean shit for the last four competitive matches.
Hull City
This season, Hull City are playing pretty solid in home matches compared to their visits – in 15 away clashes they snatched only one win and two draws, while they were defeated on twelve occasions, scoring only 7 and allowing 35 goals in the process.
However, Hull City will be motivated after finally reaching the relatively safe 17th position. Also, in the last two games, they managed to overturn the 0-1 deficit.
Team News
Manchester City have no fresh injury concerns, Ilkay Gundogan has missed much of the season and will not return for its duration, and Gabriel Jesus remains out after his bright start at the club.
Hull have several important players unavailable: Tom Huddlestone (usually the anchor in 4-1-4-1) serves the last match of his suspension, Dieumerci Mbokani has been absent with a hamstring issue but could return. Harry Maguire suffered a knock on Wednesday and remains a doubt, as does Abel Hernandez who was injured in the same game. Ryan Mason continues his rehabilitation from fracturing his skull in January.
Manchester City vs Hull City: Head-to-head
The last time Hull City beat Manchester City was back in 2010. Since then, the Manchester side won each game except a single draw. In the first part of 2016/17 season, City comfortably beat Hull with 0-3.
Manchester City vs Hull City: Prediction
Manchester City need to win three points in this match, otherwise Manchester United or Arsenal could overtake the fourth position. Since Hull City are only performing in home matches, Guardiola’s side could register another comfortable win against the Tigers.
