Hull City vs Manchester United
England – League Cup Semi-Final, Second Leg
Date: Thursday 26th January, 2017
Kick-off: 19:45 UK
Venue: KCOM Stadium, Hull.
In football’s annual calendar, domestic knockout competitions serve some interesting and unique purposes. It is the cups, that generally spice up the season, while the league strives to grade the teams according to their respective levels. Even as the league establishes a team’s level in a particular season and decides how much moolah the club will be able to rake in, cups, in addition to giving minutes on the pitch to some of the underutilized players across clubs, also serve up regular servings of David vs Goliath matches, in which every David can dream of beating every Goliath with a single accurate shot. This analogy, although clichéd, is apt this week as Hull City welcome Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United for the second leg of the EFL Cup to the KCOM stadium on Thursday night.
This is Hull’s best run in the competition, at least in this century. Prior to this, their best run was last year when they were eliminated by Manchester City in the quarterfinals. In fact, Hull have recently punched quite higher than their weight in the EFL cup in the recent years. Last four years have seen Hull finish in or above last sixteen thrice, while in the eleven years prior to these four, Hull managed to reach the third round of the competition only thrice. Hull have been playing the role of David quite regularly across both cup competitions in England – having finished runners up to Arsenal in the 2013-14 FA Cup and having reached the quarter finals of the League Cup last season. To progress further in this season’s EFL Cup, Hull will need to overcome huge odds and ensure that they beat the Goliath that is Manchester United by more than two goals, as they lag behind United from the first leg by two goals to nil.
Hull’s opponents – the Goliath of the tie – Manchester United are quite familiar with these stages of the tournament, albeit recently they have struggled to reach this penultimate stage. United are vying for their ninth final appearance in the tournament. They have won the tournament four times and have been runners up four times so far. Having already secured a 2-0 lead in the first leg at home, United will travel to Hull knowing that even a single goal from them can double the number of goals required by Hull to progress. However, United will know they cannot be complacent due to their lead as many underdogs have punished bigger teams quite ruthlessly in recent years.
Hull City vs Manchester United: Head-to-Head Stats
The Tigers produced a pretty solid performance in the first leg at Old Trafford, but were just unlucky to concede the second goal only three minutes from time. It was Marouane Fellaini who ruined the entertainment since it is hard to expect that Man Utd could drop such a huge advantage against one of the weakest teams in the top flight of English football. The Tigers failed to find the net in last four matches with the Red Devils. United have won nine and drawn one in the last ten head to head clashes with Hull City in all competitions.
Hull City vs Manchester United: Prediction
We do expect Mourinho to rest Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba. The Special One will most likely start with Martial, Rashford and Lingard up front which is why we consider the Under 2.5 goals FT bet as the top choice from this one set at 11/10 odds.
Hull City vs Manchester United: Betting Tips
FT – Under 3.5 goals at 11/10 (2.10)
Draw at the half time 7/5 (2.40).
