Alan Hansen’s Premier League Preview: Hull v Wigan
The pressure is mounting on Hull manager Phil Brown as the Tigers fans have started to voice their disapproval at a poor start to the season. The club’s Chairman Paul Duffen has defended his manager but the need for a positive result is growing. This weekend Hull face a Wigan side that pulled off one of the shocks of the season last weekend when they ended Chelsea’s 100% start to the campaign.
The statistics for Hull certainly don’t make great reading. Not only are the Tigers struggling defensively but they are also struggling up front. Phil Brown’s side have conceded 19 goals in their seven league games. Only Derby conceded more than that after the same amount of matches in Premier League history back in 2007/08. If Hull aren’t going to follow the Rams down into the Championship they need to recapture the spirit and belief they showed at the start of last season.
Hull cannot rely on their home form to get them out of trouble either as their record at the KC Stadium is abysmal. Newly promoted sides usually rely on their record at home to ensure survival like Stoke did last season but Hull relied on their results on the road. After all, their record at home is one win in the last 14 Premier League games.
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Hull are relatively toothless in attack too. They’ve failed to score more than a single goal in the last 21 Premier League matches which suggests they will struggle to kill teams off even when they are on top. Roberto Martinez’ Latics have been indifferent this season and have lost their last 3 in all competitions away from home. However, they will have gained massive confidence from beating Chelsea last weekend.
Hugo Rodallega has been the main man for Wigan this season and his record speaks for itself. In all but one of the last 13 games, if the Colombian hasn’t netted then Wigan haven’t scored. Despite the Latics’ confidence and Hull’s poor home record I expect this to be a relatively tight game. I certainly don’t see a repeat of Wigan’s 5-0 win at the KC Stadium last season. Therefore, I’m backing the draw on this weekend’s Premier 10.
Tags: Alan Hansen, Hull, Premier 10, Premier League, Wigan
