The last time the two sides faced each other in the Premier League, Burnley thrashed Hull City 4-1 at the KC Stadium but the win wasn’t enough as both clubs ended up being relegated at the end of that 2009/10 season. Looking to avoid a similar fate this time around, bottom of the table Burnley are in desperate need of a first league win since their return to the English top-tier after five years, but Steve Bruce’s 14th placed Hull City will hardly make for an easy opposition.
Sean Dyche’s side put up a brave front at the Emirates last week but their resistance was broken eventually and they went on to lose 3-0 which leaves them with just four points from ten games after six defeats and four draws.
Hull City meanwhile will travel to Turf Moor having faced four out of the current top five sides already, and in recent weeks gained creditable away draws at Arsenal and Liverpool before losing to Southampton by a solitary goal. But matches against Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Everton in the forthcoming weeks makes it imperative for them to come away with a good result on Saturday as just three points seven teams above them.
Team News
Burnley
Steven Reid, Sam Vokes and Matthew Taylor are still sidelined with groin, knee and calf injuries.
Hull City
Goalkeepers Steve Harper and Allan McGregor will be sidelined for the trip to Turf Moor with bicep and shoulder problems respectively while Michael Dawson and Alex Bruce will miss out because of ankle and hamstring injuries. Robert Snodgrass and Nikica Jelavic are still recovering from knee injuries.
Last five meetings
11 Mar 2013 Burnley 0 – 1 Hull City Championship
24 Nov 2012 Hull City 0 – 1 Burnley Championship
31 Dec 2011 Burnley 1 – 0 Hull City Championship
26 Nov 2011 Hull City 2 – 3 Burnley Championship
08 Mar 2011 Hull City 0 – 1 Burnley Championship
Probable Line-ups
Burnley
Burnley: 4-4-1-1: Heaton, Trippier, Duff, Shackell, Ward; Arfield, Marney, Jones, Boyd; Ings, Jutkiewicz
Hull City
Hull City: 3-5-2: Jakupovic; Chester, McShane, Davies; Elmohamady, Diame, Livermore, Huddlestone, Robertson; Ben Arfa, Hernandez
Stats
Only Cordoba and Burnley are yet to win a league game in Europe’s top 5 teams this season.
Burnley have scored only netted five goals in the Premier League which is the joint lowest alongside Aston Villa.
Only QPR (20) have conceded more goals than Burnley (19) who are joint second from bottom with Crystal Palace.
Burnley have conceded at least 3 goals in their last 3 Premier League games.
Hull City have drawn their last 3 away matches in the Premier League.
Four of the last five league meetings between Burnley and Hull City have ended with a 1-0 scoreline.
Key Men
Burnley
Lukas Jutkiewicz: The 25-year-old striker is yet to open his account for the season, not unlike most of his teammates at the Turf Moor, but there won’t be a better time for him to start scoring than Saturday’s derby against Hull City. The former Middlesbrough man has started all but one of the league games for Burnley so far, and averages 3 and a half shots per 90 minutes. He has averaged 1.1 key passes per game and has bagged two assists out of the five goals Burnley have scored this season. He also wins an astonishing 5.4 aerial duels per game as he is required to be the focal point for all Burnley long balls.
Hull City
Abel Hernandez: Club record signing Abel Hernandez was procured from Palermo for £9.5m and the Uruguayan has netted three times from seven appearances so far in the league. In the absence of Jelavic, the 24-year-old will lead the line though Steve Bruce would like him to improve on his 1.7 shots per game till now. He has a very good shot accuracy though with 70% of his shots on target and a pretty decent pass percentage of 79% per game. Along with Hatem Ben Arfa, Hernandez will be a constant threat to a leaky Burnley defence.
Betting PreviewÂ
Burnley have struggled for goals in the Premier League this season and you can back Hull to keep a clean sheet at 3.5 here http://goo.gl/Mx72bP.
Prediction
Burnley rarely score, and you can back them here on Tailorbet to fire blanks again. Hull City’s attack on the other hand might have just be a bit too much for Burnley’s woeful defence, and the Tigers should snatch a narrow win on Saturday.
