Hull City V Wigan Athletic – Saturday 3rd October

 

English Premiership 2009/2010

 

 

Hull City V Wigan Athletic

 

 

Kick-off: Saturday 3^rd October – 15:00 GMT

Venue: The KC Stadium

 

English Premiership 2009/2010

 

 

Hull City

 

League Position: 19th

Recent Form: WDLLL

 

  

Phil Brown conceded last weekend that, after receiving a complete and utter hammering at the hands of Liverpool, this is the worst spell in his managerial career. Hull fell to their fifth defeat of the season and now they find themselves in the bottom three, a situation many had predicted before the season even began. However, the manner of some of their defeats has been shocking, with Hull never too far away from another hammering.

  

The 6-1 defeat away at Liverpool last weekend was the third time this season that Hull have been on the receiving end of a drubbing, with Sunderland smashing Hull 4-1 at the beginning of September and Tottenham humiliating Hull City at the KC stadium, the venue for this game with Wigan, putting five past Hull in a 5-1 mauling. With those results in mind, it doesn’t take a genius to pinpoint where it’s all gone wrong for Hull, and that’s in their woeful defence. The Tigers have already conceded 19 goals in just seven games, that’s the worst defensive record in the entire league by a country mile. Their only clean sheet this season came at home to Bolton, a side struggling for goals as well.

  

Although Hull’s defence is laughable to say the least, their offence is still looking half-decent. Hull have only failed to score in one of their seven league outings this season, that coming against Birmingham City, a side with a pretty lean defence. Hull have scored against Liverpool, Chelsea & Tottenham, all quality sides and, were it not for their mediocre defence, Hull might have gotten something out of those games. The departure of Michael Turner is one of the reasons why Hull are struggling at the back but their defence has been at sixes and sevens for some time now and it’s mind boggling that Phil Brown didn’t strengthen his back line during the summer.

 

Hull’s league record now stands at 1-1-5 whilst their goals for and against tally is currently 6-19. Both make for awful reading and were this game to be decided on current form alone, Hull City wouldn’t have a chance in hell. However, every new game provides a new opportunity to put right a dreadful start to the season for Hull and Phil Brown.

 

 

Wigan Athletic

 

League Position: 10th

Recent Form: LLWLW

 

 

Latics fans must be over the moon with their recent league success. 34 games without a win over any of the ‘Big Four’ and then they strike lucky against an inform Chelsea. Not many, even us, gave Wigan much of a chance against a Chelsea side who had previously won all six of their fixtures in the Premiership. Not now though after Wigan gave Carlo Ancelotti and Chelsea one huge reality check at The DW stadium last Saturday. That was just Roberto Martinez’s second victory as Wigan manager but it will certainly be the highlight in his short Wigan managerial career thus far.

  

Wigan were sensational at the weekend, with the 3-1 score line far from flattering for the Latics. Some will say Chelsea were dreadful on the day but we say Wigan completely outplayed what was a lacklustre Chelsea. Wigan took their chances when they come along, although, were they a tad more clinical, Wigan could have scored a few more. The movement from the Wigan players off the ball was second to none while their forward play was jaw dropping at times. They exploited what was a lean Chelsea defence on more than half-a-dozen occasions and it really was hard to notice which side actually were the current league leaders before kick-off.

  

That victory for Wigan knocked Chelsea off their perch but, more importantly, it gave Wigan all three points and lifted them into the top ten as Roberto Martinez took Wigan six points clear of the relegation zone. However, that has been Wigan this season, very inconsistent. One game they can be sublime and play some glorious football, while the next they can play complete tosh. You’ll have more luck predicting the lottery then predicting which Wigan side will actually turn up on match day.

 

To any onlookers it may comes as surprise to hear that Wigan have yet to win back-to-back games this season, despite their classy display on Saturday. They have notched up three wins this season but with each victory followed defeat(s). Wigan surprised most when they beat Aston Villa 2-0 at Villa Park, but then the Latics went on a run of three straight defeats. However, this is a fantastic opportunity for the club to register their first back-to-back league wins of the season but, as Wigan have shown already, they’re far too unpredictable to really take seriously.

  

 

Head-to-Head:

 

 

Hull City W: 0 Wigan Athletic W: 2 Draws: 0

 

 

Wigan won both of the first encounters between the two in a Premiership affair last season, with Wigan beating Hull both at The KC stadium (0-5) and back at The DW stadium (1-0). As you can see, Wigan crushed Hull City last season at the KC and Hull will have something to prove as they aim to avenge that humiliating home defeat.

 

 

 

Match Verdict: Wigan Athletic to WIN – 13/8 SkyBet

 

Despite their inconsistent nature, Wigan just have to be backed to beat a dreadful Hull side that couldn’t defend against a pub team. You could of drove a digger through the Hull defence last Saturday as Liverpool opened them up to score six goals, when it really could of reached double figures. Wigan have an outstanding result behind them and that should be the catalyst for them to go onto better and bigger things this season, starting with a third successive victory over Hull.

 

 

 

Match Odds:

 

 

Hull City – 7/4 Expekt

 

Wigan Athletic – 13/8 SkyBet

 

Draw – 12/5 SkyBet

 

 

 

SoccerBetting Tip: Hugo Rodallega to Score Anytime – 6/5 WilliamHill