Aston Villa vs Hull

Aston Villa V Hull City

Kick-off: Saturday 5^th December – 15:00 GMT

Venue: Villa Park

Aston Villa

League Position: 6th

Recent Form: DLWDD

Martin O’Neill will set out to guide his Villa troopers back to winning ways after a poor couple of months where wins have been at a premium. The 1-1 draw at home to Tottenham on Saturday has meant that Villa have won just two of their last nine games in the league and are leaving themselves open to a surprise result after a series of successive 1-1 draws.

In their last nine league outings, Villa have drawn five, all of which have been by a 1-1 scoreline. Saturday’s encounter with Tottenham Hotspur ended in the exact same manner and that result in accordance with the poor showing, will have surely left Martin O’Neill at least a tad concerned over what is still a fairly young and inexperienced Aston Villa side.

On Saturday, against Spurs, Villa were extremely poor. We expected a big performance from Villa, especially after claiming the scalps of both Liverpool & Chelsea early on in the season, but that certainly wasn’t their case. Some would argue that Aston Villa enjoyed the opening 45 minutes, we couldn’t disagree any more, whilst many claimed Tottenham battered Villa in the second half, we couldn’t agree more. Villa were massively disappointing, in both halves, and despite taking an early lead through a scrap Gabriel Agbonlahor goal, Villa, like they did on so many occasions last year, quite simply bottled it! – They allowed Tottenham all the time they wanted on the ball and an entire second half to come at them and attack. Villa showed next to nothing after taking the lead and their negative mindset has had a big impact on our end of preview prediction. 

Villa have won twice as many games at Villa Park, with a record of 4-2-1, whilst they do boast a very impressive goals tally of 13-6. However, although they kept two clean sheets early on in the season against Portsmouth & Fulham, hardly the fiercest of teams in the final third, Villa have failed to keep a clean sheet in their previous four home fixtures – with Man City, Chelsea, Bolton & Tottenham all breaking through the Villa rearguard. Some would say that those are tough home fixtures, which they are, but Villa fans actually think their side are serious top four contenders but to earn that right you need to perform in all aspects of the pitch, with complacency banished from all areas of the pitch. This isn’t so at this moment in time, and their missed opportunity to assert themselves and send out a message to the challengers was passed up on Saturday against Tottenham.

However, we’re sure players and fans alike at Aston Villa couldn’t of dreamt of an easier fixtures to regain that winning feeling then a home encounter with stragglers, Hull City. Villa did beat Hull 1-0 at Villa Park last season, but Hull did cause the Villa defence a few problems and, although Hull’s offence isn’t looking all that great at the moment, would you really be that comfortable with backing a shaky Aston Villa at as short as 4/9 with some firms?

Hull City

League Position: 7th

Recent Form: LWDWD

Finally, as sighs of relief sound out around Hull, a bit of form to actually brag about. It’s quite unbelievable to think that Hull City, a team which were shaping up as one of the worst to embrace the league this season, are actually unbeaten in four games. Stoke, West Ham, Everton and now even the mighty Man City, haven’t got the better of Hull City in recent weeks and now their resurgence in form has led them to safety, with the Tigers now occupying a more comfortable 15^th position.

Right, impressive form nevertheless, but three of the four games in this sensational run of form for Hull City (don’t mind us getting too carried away), were at home, The KC stadium. Just the 1-1 draw at The City of Manchester is their only away conquest in this mini unbeaten run, but even that point away at Man City was mighty impressive considering the millions that has been spent on the Man City ranks compared to those currently at Hull. Jimmy Bullard, a player who signed for a relatively large sum of cash in Hull’s world, scored a clinical and emphatic penalty to secure at a point and that draw has to have boosted the Hull ranks heading into yet another extremely tough away fixture.

However, in general, Hull’s away form this season has been dire. In seven away outings thus far, only twice have Hull be able to avoid defeat, losing five and drawing two. Their two draws came at Man City (1-1) and Wolves (1-1), whilst; Chelsea (2-1), Sunderland (4-1), Liverpool (6-1), Fulham (2-0) and Burnley (2-0), have all beaten a homesick Hull City. Some of those defeats have been heavy, with Hull’s away defensive record a scary sight at 5-18. They haven’t yet kept a clean sheet on the road, that doesn’t look all too likely to happen this Saturday, while only Wolves & Man City have failed to score more then once against Hull. They’re shipping nearly three goals a game on their travels, which will be music to the ears of Villa fans.

Head-to-Head (Last 10):

Aston Villa W: 2 Hull City W: 0 Draws: 0

It was Villa who prospered in both encounters last season, winning at both Villa Park & The KC, both by a 1-0 scoreline. A usually dangerous Villa front-line was limited to just a single goal in both meetings last season, although, Villa manage to keep Hull at arms length, failing to concede against the Tigers in the two meetings.

John Carew scored in the home encounter, at Villa Park, while a Zayette goal separated the two at The KC stadium, with Zayette receiving a yellow card both home and away against Aston Villa last term.

Match Verdict:- Draw – 4.50 Expekt

The statistics and form don’t back up a potential Villa shock but Villa are still given off signals that they aren’t ready for the big time, not yet anyway. At a best priced ½ with Boylesports, we can’t be backing a still very young Villa squad at that price. The draw is of more value in a game that Villa definitely have to win but are by no means a banker. This could turn into a horror show for me but I’m taking Hull’s point at Man City as a sign of things to come from Hull, possibly. Their defence was a lot more tidier, they put more effort into their attacks, and, although their point did come via a penalty kick, that win will have only boosted what should be a buoyant Hull camp at present. We’re on the draw, for value sake.

Match Odds:

Aston Villa – 1.50 SkyBet

Draw – 4.50 Expekt

Hull City – 7.50 Bet365

SoccerBetting Value Tip: Under 2.5 Goals – 2.20 SkyBet