- West Ham have won five of their last seven vs. Hull (5-1-1)
- Hull have only won one of their last eight games
- Hammers have made their worst start since 2010-11
Hull City host West Ham United on Monday (Watch live, 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN and online via Live Extra) at the KC Stadium to finish off Week 4.
The Tigers have a victory, draw and defeat from their opening three games, while West Ham have two defeats in three and Sam Allardyce continues to be put under pressure. It will be a rough and tumble encounter in Yorkshire under the floodlights on Monday night. It has been an uncertain week for Hull as their club is now up for sale and manager Steve Bruce has been linked with replacing Alan Pardew at Newcastle.
[WATCH LIVE: Stream live via Live Extra]
In team news new Hull signing Abel Hernandez could start, while loan signings Gaston Ramirez and Hatem Ben Arfa are both short of full fitness. However, Mohamed Diame could make his Hull debut against the side he joined them from on Deadline Day, West Ham. The Hammers could hand debuts to Alex Song and Morgan Amalfitano.
What they’re saying...
Stewart Downing on West Ham’s strong squad: “That’s a big plus for us I think. Last year was difficult with injuries, the team was pretty much picking itself. Now we have several players for each position, the manager’s going to have a headache picking the team, but I’m sure he’d rather have this situation than what happened last year.”
Hull boss Steve Bruce on Hull’s fans: “We’re at home and I urge the supporters to get right behind the team. They did that last year in their thousands and if we’re going to survive and get bigger and better, their support is vitally important. We need to make the KC a fortress and it has been a notoriously difficult place for teams to come and play. We’ve got to maintain that and with the help of the supporters we can do that.”
Prediction
This will be a tight game at the KC and probably not one for the purists. Both teams prefer direct soccer but if Hull can go ahead early it will force West Ham to come at them. I’m backing the Tigers to prevail 2-1 after a turbulent week.
