Wolverhampton Wanderers V Hull City

English Premiership 2009/2010 – Game Week 4

Wolverhampton Wanderers V Hull City

Kick-Off: Saturday 29^th August – 15:00 GMT

Venue: Molineux Stadium

Wolverhampton Wanderers

League Position: 14th

Recent Form: LWL

Some gutsy performances but just three points to show for their efforts. Wolves have made a decent start in terms of their performances on the pitch, but two defeats from their opening three games is a clear indication that, despite their ability to show glimpses of quality on the field, they lack the consistency and quality in depth to adapt and contnd with such a gruelling league. They lost on the opening day of the season against West Ham United, losing 2-0, and their latest outing ended in misery also, succumbing to a narrow 1-0 defeat at The City of Manchester stadium against the free-spending Manchester City. However, their spirits were lifted with victory in their second fixture of the season away at Wigan. They surprised many people with a 1-0 victory at The JJB but were brought back down to earth with defeat against Man City the following week.

Wolves will struggle to survive this season, there’s no getting away from that, but they do posses some talented individuals who can produce the goods, albeit on rare occasions. Against Wigan, Wolves were superb. They harried the opposition, gave Wigan no time on the ball and created the best chances of the two teams. Fortunately, for the faithful Wolves supporters, they did manage to put one away, but the fact that Wolves have found the net just once in their opening three fixtures is already causing alarm bells to ring. To add insult to injury, (Pun very much intended) Wolves will be without injured duo Chris Iwelumo & Sylvain Ebanks-Blake although Blake will face a late fitness test ahead of their second home game of the season.

If Wolves are going to survive this season then there’s two areas which need improving. Their finishing and their home form. They lost their opening home fixture of the season 2-0. In order to survive they will need to make Molineux a fortress, especially against sides that are certainly beatable. Secondly, their strikers will need to sharpen up, at least the ones still available. It may still be early days but one goal in three games isn’t good.

Hull City

League Position: 15th 

Recent Form: LLW

Phil Brown and Hull City will be ecstatic after finally ending their abysmal home run without a single win, which stretched all the way back to December last year. That rare victory will give the players a huge boost in confidence ahead of what is another very winnable fixture against a Wolves side destined to struggle this season. You would have to say that Hull do have the more talented of the two squads but, Hull, a team who only win every full moon, winning two games on the bounce, is that even possible?

That 1-0 victory over Bolton at the weekend really could and should have been a much bigger margin. Hull carved open the Bolton back line on more then one occasion and could of scored four or five were it not for some mediocre finishing. However, the fact that Hull are now creating these chances is a huge positive and the credit has to go down to Phil Brown for his recent purchases. Both Jozy Altidore & Kamel Ghilas were introduced for the very first time in Saturday’s victory over Bolton and the pair play an integral part in securing Hull’s first win in what seemed to be a decade. For the first time in several months, Hull actually looked a threat going forward. The sheer strength of Altidore in combination with the surprisingly skilful Ghilas made for one lethal duo on Saturday. If the pair can reproduce that form then Hull are well worth a squirt at odds of around 11/4.

Head-to-Head:

Wolves W: 3 Hull W: 3 Draws: 0

The two sides have never met before in the Premiership so both sides will need to acclimatise quickly. To make this fixture even harder to predict, their clashes in The Championship were ever harder to call. However, back in 2007/2008 season when the pair were both involved in The Championship, Hull completed a league double over Wolves, winning both at The KC stadium and at Molineux, home of Wolves. Hull beat Wolves 1-0 at Molineux and Phil Brown would be more than delighted with a similar scoreline on saturday.

Match Verdict: Hull to WIN – 11/4 Bet365

I can’t believe I’ve tipped up Hull to win once again, after tipping them to end their rout last weekend, but their new striking duo of Altidore & Ghilas has swayed me into predicting another Hull victory. The pair looked a real handful against a Bolton defence which is normally pretty ship-tight. Wolves aren’t renowned for their superb defending so Hull look a decent enough price to comply for the second consecutive weekend.

Match Odds:

Wolverhampton Wanderers – 23/20 BlueSquare

Hull City – 11/4 Bet365

Draw – 12/5 SkyBet

SoccerBetting Tip: Hull City to Score 3+ Goals – 10/1 SkyBet