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The Premier League schedule resumes this weekend with the bad weather hopefully causing no further problems as Hull City attempt to end their winless streak which spans six games against a deadly Tottenham side who should fancy themselves at home, especially given Hull’s record of 15 away matches without a win. To add to the Tigers’ disadvantage, their North London opponents have kept a clean sheet in their last five games, all of which they won and although Hull were victorious at White Hart Lane last season, Harry Redknapp will be expecting a win as he manages a side in the Premier League for the 500th time.
Hull City may have taken three points from the venue of Saturday afternoon’s clash last season, but the circumstances ahead of the game were very different. Spurs were without Robbie Keane who was at Liverpool, Jermain Defoe who had moved to Portsmouth and Peter Crouch who was alongside Defoe on the South coast at Pompey. They headed into the game in danger of being sucked into a relegation battle against teams with half the talent of their star-studded squad, far inferior spending power and smaller fanbases - Juande Ramos’ side were in uncharted territory and didn’t look comfortable. Hull took advantage. A second North London wonder-goal by Geovanni gave City a lead which they defended resolutely and their one-time transfer target Frazier Campbell was kept quiet by the centre-back partnership of Kamil Zayatte and the impressive Michael Turner. As such, Hull City went home with three points and continued a good run of form, something that hasn’t been said since.
A lot has changed since that day, not least Tottenham’s introduction of Harry Redknapp as manager. The former West Ham and Portsmouth chief turned Spurs’ fortunes around and had them climbing the table in no time whilst Juande Ramos was, for some reason, offered a job by Real Madrid. Now, having re-signed Keane and Defoe and added Crouch to an already potent strike force, Redknapp’s team are flying high in the Premier League and are more concerned with finishing inside the top three than outside the bottom three. For Hull City, too, times have changed. No longer are they an unknown quantity in the Premier League and they are struggling to find a successful formula with which they can beat teams without their talismanic midfielder Jimmy Bullard. They have looked shaky at the back since the departure of fans’ favourite Michael Turner and no longer have Marlon King as a recognised attacking threat. Neither do they have an on-form Geovanni, who became a cult hero on Humberside for his habit of scoring great goals last season – the Brazilian might have hit the net on five occasions this season but he hasn’t been playing as well as his previous high standards suggest he can, and at a time when Hull need somebody to provide an extra spark he has not stepped up to the challenge.
Now Hull City are in a relegation scrap which, although it may involve up to eight teams, doesn’t look good for the Tigers. One place off the foot of the table, they need to become difficult to play against just as they were at the beginning of last season. A long-term injury blow is that of Ian Ashbee which continues to hamper the team because they have no tenacious ball-winner in midfield – no leader – and none of Hull’s other squad members have been able to provide that. Phil Brown has the tough task of picking a team, a formation and tactics that can put up a fight against a side which, on paper, look a million miles better than what’s at his disposal.
My Hull City team to play Tottenham Hotspur:
Myhill
McShane - Zayatte - Gardner – Dawson
Garcia - Boateng - Marney – Hunt
Fagan – Vennegoor of Hesselink
Hull’s missing first team players Olofinjana, Bullard, Ashbee and Altidore mean that the team almost picks itself, given that Cousin is at the African Cup of Nations and out of favour anyway, Ghilas too has not been allowed much playing time of late nor have Kilbane, Barmby, Mendy or Caleb Folan (who looks certain to leave the club this month). Tom Cairney is in the squad having made a step up from the youth team recently and has looked impressive whenever he has played in the first team – he could well feature against Spurs but is unlikely to make his first Premier League start away at White Hart Lane (although Phil Brown did do just that with Liam Cooper at Anfield earlier in the season).
There is no doubt that Hull City will be up against it. The only pre-match consolation for them is that Aaron Lennon will be injured which takes away one of Tottenham’s deadliest attacking threats, but apart from that Hull will be considered very lucky to escape with anything other than a good hiding unless they can perform better than they did in the second half against Wigan in the 4-1 drubbing they received in the F.A. Cup during the last first team game.
Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 Hull City
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