The gloom surrounding Hull City this season is thicker than the early morning mist on the Humber. Is there any chance there is a chink of light for them, starting against Everton at home on Friday night?
They are 4.6 with William Hill for a victory – only three wins so far remember – with the draw 3.68 and the Toffees at 1.91 (Betfred, Sportingbet, BetVictor, Betway).
Hull are a curious case. Are they a lacking talent or confidence? Or both? It is true that their run of fixtures was not kind and surely served to deal a hammer blow to perhaps fragile minds.
After winning both their opening two matches – against champions Leicester City and Swansea – they then faced the powerhouses of the Premier League. Four of their next five games saw them take on Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea. They lost all of those and the damage was done.
But there have been hints at a revival, only for it to be crushed again soon after. They beat Southampton (although they were outplayed) and they showed good fighting spirit against West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace.
So an uninspiring Everton team is the sort of match they should be able to get something from. The main problem they have to somehow solve is goals. They don’t score any. A team which has failed to score in four of their last five makes for an unappetizing prospect on the win markets.
Everton’s defence is hardly Fort Knox, though, with one clean sheet in eight. But there’s no edge to reckon that both teams to score at 1.95 (Bet365, William Hill) are worth a poke.
However, Hull has changed the way they play since a bore draw against Middlesbrough at the start of the month. Perhaps knowing that he is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t, boss Mike Phelan has just told his players to go out and attack.
If they’re going to go down they will do so in a blaze of glory. The faithful are not disappointed by the switch, by the way.
They are playing with far more freedom and gusto at the moment, which merely adds to the curiosity. Against West Ham when they were unfortunate to go down to a penalty, Hull would have been good value for a win. Still, Everton is far more organised than that rabble.
The best way to find value here then is to consider Hull with +1 on the handicap. Bwin offers 2.05. They are 1.99 with a 0.5 headstart with 10Bet.
On the head-to-heads at Hull, the last two meetings have finished with 2-0 wins for the hosts and Everton respectively. Hull are 26 with BetVictor for a repeat. Everton is 9.5 (BetVictor).
As for goals, Romelu Lukaku is one of those fair favourites for first goalscorer that we like to support. He is 4.5 with Betway. With 3.2 shots per game, he is joint fifth in the league.
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