The Irons To Hammer Hull

Hull welcome West Ham to the KC Stadium on Monday night in a game both sides will feel confident of getting something from.

Form
This will be a eighth game of the season already for Hull, having begun their campaign at the end of July with a scoreless draw in the Europa League against Odu Trencin.

Their first ever campaign in Europe was a short-lived one though as despite getting through the first set of qualifying games, Steve Bruce’s side were knocked out on away goals by Belgian side Lokeren at the next hurdle.

Their Premier League campaign has been reasonable but unspectacular, after a win, loss and draw from three games, with Aston Villa getting the better of the Tigers in their last outing at Villa Park. Nikica Jelavic scored Hull’s only goal in that 2-1 defeat, and the Croat has now found the net in each of Hull’s last two league games.

West Ham haven’t had the luxury, or dubious distraction – depending on your outlook – of Europa League football to contend this season

but it hasn’t stopped them from struggling in their opening games.

The Hammers have won only one of their four matches and lost each of their three games on their own patch, including a Capital One Cup defeat to Sheffield United on penalties. Their solitary victory came against London rivals Crystal Palace while Sam Allardyce’s side were beaten by Spurs and Southampton in the Premier League and have conceded in all of their outings to date.

Team News
Bruce has an opportunity to give debuts to all of their transfer deadline day arrivals as loan signings Gaston Ramirez and Hatem Ben Arfa are available for selection after joining from Southampton and Newcastle respectively.

Record signing Abel Hernandez is expected to start up front while Mohamed Diame should take part for his new club against the side he just left. Robert Snodgrass is out for the best part of the season after suffering a broken kneecap on his league debut for the Tigers while defender Andrew Robertson is doubtful with a calf problem.

Defender James Collins is in contention for a starting role in the Hammers’ lineup after recovering from a hamstring problem but Joey O’Brien, Matt Jarvis and Carl Jenkinson are all doubtful, with the game likely to come a week too soon for the trio to start.

Kevin Nolan and Andy Carroll both remain sidelined for the foreseeable future with shoulder and ankle problems respectively. Allardyce could also hand debuts to new arrivals Morgan Amalfitano and former Arsenal midfielder Alexandre Song.

Head to Head
The Tigers won this fixture 1-0 last season thanks to Robbie Brady’s penalty, with West Ham earning their revenge with a 2-1 victory at Upton Park and have won four of their last five league meetings with Hull, who have had a man sent off in three of the last four clashes with these opponents. Carlton Cole has scored four times for the Hammers – and an own goal for Hull – in his past five games against Hull.

Recommended Bets
With home advantage and marginally better results to date it’s clear why Hull are favourites at 11/10 while the Hammers are quite big outsiders at 3/1 given the two sides appear quite well matched on paper.

With so many players potentially making their debuts it’s an even tougher game to call but I like the 13/8 on the Hammers with ‘Draw no Bet’, while in what’s expected to be a low-scoring game – Under 2.5 goals is just 6/10 – the Evens on both teams scoring is a good value bet too.