Team news for Hull City v Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday, September 27, 2014.Hull City team news
Steve Bruce will turn back to his big guns as he bids to mastermind an upset against Premier League champions Manchester City.
Hull City made 11 changes as they crashed out of the Capital One Cup at West Brom on Wednesday, but Saturday afternoon's line-up will recall the vast majority of players who earned a 2-2 draw at Newcastle last weekend.
Record signing Abel Hernandez will be one of those to return after suffering from fatigue at St James' Park, but there are question marks hanging over countryman Gaston Ramirez.
Although the on-loan Southampton man has been able to train this week, he has complained of a groin injury since arriving at the KC. That will likely rule him out of a start again, but Ramirez could be fit enough for the bench.
David Meyler is another who has been in the treatment room after suffering a back injury at The Hawthorns. Scans were all clear but he is unlikely to start.
Bruce's biggest issue will be whether to revert to a 3-5-2 shape to strengthen the defence. James Chester would be the beneficiary if Bruce goes with that option, dropping either Stephen Quinn or Jake Livermore to the bench.Possible Hull City starting line-up to face Manchester City: McGregor; Chester, Dawson, Davies; Elmohamady, Huddlestone, Livermore, Diame, Robertson; Jelavic, Hernandez.
Manchester City team news Manchester City welcome back Sergio Aguero and David Silva as they bid to end a run of three Premier League games without a win at the KC Stadium. Aguero (knee) and Silva (ankle) both missed the 7-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday through injury but returned to full training on Friday. Both of the leading lights are likely to start against the Tigers but Manuel Pellegrini will still be without a trio of stars. Stevan Jovetic, Fernando and Samir Nasri were all declared absentees, failing to overcome the problems that saw them miss out in midweek. Pellegrini will take no chances ahead of next week's must-win Champions League tie against Roma and could opt to hand Frank Lampard a reward for his recent excellence. Lampard popped up off the bench last weekend to salvage a valuable draw against former club Chelsea and is pushing for a start against the Tigers. One player certain to come back into the mix will be Pablo Zabaleta. The Argentine defender was sent off against Chelsea for two yellow cards but served his one-game ban against Sheffield Wednesday.Possible Manchester City starting line-up to face Hull City: Hart; Zabaleta, Mangala, Kompany, Kolarov; Milner, Toure, Fernandinho, Silva; Dzeko, Aguero.
Philip Buckingham's preview In amongst all the talk of porous defending and late surrenders this week, Hull City boss Steve Bruce chose to raise another issue he is keen to address when Manchester City visit the KC Stadium. In 16 games against last season's top eight clubs in the Premier League, the Tigers took just four points from a possible 48 and Bruce knew the statistic better than anyone in the room. Only the landmark win over Liverpool last December and a draw at home to Tottenham in February managed to buck a trend that saw City beaten 14 times by the division's elite. The Tigers were left empty handed home and away by Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Everton, Manchester United and Southampton. There is no shame in such statistics for a Premier League newcomer. Far from it. But as the first of the big cats arrive at the KC Stadium on Saturday, Bruce is asking for a little bit more second time around. So often last season it was about fine margins against the big boys. Only in a handful of those 16 games were City played off the park, but when the opportunities arose to make a rival sweat, Bruce's side struggled to seize the moment. A trip to Manchester City last August was a fine case in point. When their hosts were sleepy and short of their best, the Tigers' bright start needed to count. Sone Aluko's miss one-on-one with Joe Hart proved costly once Manchester City found their rhythm after the break. Further hard-luck stories also came away to Spurs and Everton and at home to Manchester United, but also served to teach City valuable lessons upon their Premier League return. Capitalise when it counts or punishment will invariably follow. Those are the breaks against the best and Bruce is acutely aware that improvements will need to come against the Premier League champions. In each of their last four games the Tigers have conceded two or more goals. Repeat that on Saturday and you suspect a victory would be more impossible than improbable against a side of Manchester City's pedigree. City's attacking line of Nikica Jelavic and Abel Hernandez, supported admirably by the goals of Mohamed Diame, will cause the visitors problems but the focus must be on rediscovering a collective resilience. Whether that means a switch back to 3-5-2 or a tug on the reins of a 4-4-2 remains to be seen, but repeating the mistakes seen at St James' Park and The Hawthorns in the past week will spell trouble. Manchester City's seven goals in a midweek demolition of Sheffield Wednesday were a timely reminder of that. The current problems owe as much to poor concentration as they do organisation. Players have switched off at key moments and paid heavy prices. Sharper minds and City could have been in the last 16 of the League Cup and up among the early pace-setters of the top flight. On Saturday, Bruce will long for the resilience of old and a rare dividend against one of the Premier League's elite. One will not come without the other.Prediction: Hull City 0 Manchester City 2
Manchester City team news Manchester City welcome back Sergio Aguero and David Silva as they bid to end a run of three Premier League games without a win at the KC Stadium. Aguero (knee) and Silva (ankle) both missed the 7-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday through injury but returned to full training on Friday. Both of the leading lights are likely to start against the Tigers but Manuel Pellegrini will still be without a trio of stars. Stevan Jovetic, Fernando and Samir Nasri were all declared absentees, failing to overcome the problems that saw them miss out in midweek. Pellegrini will take no chances ahead of next week's must-win Champions League tie against Roma and could opt to hand Frank Lampard a reward for his recent excellence. Lampard popped up off the bench last weekend to salvage a valuable draw against former club Chelsea and is pushing for a start against the Tigers. One player certain to come back into the mix will be Pablo Zabaleta. The Argentine defender was sent off against Chelsea for two yellow cards but served his one-game ban against Sheffield Wednesday.Possible Manchester City starting line-up to face Hull City: Hart; Zabaleta, Mangala, Kompany, Kolarov; Milner, Toure, Fernandinho, Silva; Dzeko, Aguero.
Philip Buckingham's preview In amongst all the talk of porous defending and late surrenders this week, Hull City boss Steve Bruce chose to raise another issue he is keen to address when Manchester City visit the KC Stadium. In 16 games against last season's top eight clubs in the Premier League, the Tigers took just four points from a possible 48 and Bruce knew the statistic better than anyone in the room. Only the landmark win over Liverpool last December and a draw at home to Tottenham in February managed to buck a trend that saw City beaten 14 times by the division's elite. The Tigers were left empty handed home and away by Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Everton, Manchester United and Southampton. There is no shame in such statistics for a Premier League newcomer. Far from it. But as the first of the big cats arrive at the KC Stadium on Saturday, Bruce is asking for a little bit more second time around. So often last season it was about fine margins against the big boys. Only in a handful of those 16 games were City played off the park, but when the opportunities arose to make a rival sweat, Bruce's side struggled to seize the moment. A trip to Manchester City last August was a fine case in point. When their hosts were sleepy and short of their best, the Tigers' bright start needed to count. Sone Aluko's miss one-on-one with Joe Hart proved costly once Manchester City found their rhythm after the break. Further hard-luck stories also came away to Spurs and Everton and at home to Manchester United, but also served to teach City valuable lessons upon their Premier League return. Capitalise when it counts or punishment will invariably follow. Those are the breaks against the best and Bruce is acutely aware that improvements will need to come against the Premier League champions. In each of their last four games the Tigers have conceded two or more goals. Repeat that on Saturday and you suspect a victory would be more impossible than improbable against a side of Manchester City's pedigree. City's attacking line of Nikica Jelavic and Abel Hernandez, supported admirably by the goals of Mohamed Diame, will cause the visitors problems but the focus must be on rediscovering a collective resilience. Whether that means a switch back to 3-5-2 or a tug on the reins of a 4-4-2 remains to be seen, but repeating the mistakes seen at St James' Park and The Hawthorns in the past week will spell trouble. Manchester City's seven goals in a midweek demolition of Sheffield Wednesday were a timely reminder of that. The current problems owe as much to poor concentration as they do organisation. Players have switched off at key moments and paid heavy prices. Sharper minds and City could have been in the last 16 of the League Cup and up among the early pace-setters of the top flight. On Saturday, Bruce will long for the resilience of old and a rare dividend against one of the Premier League's elite. One will not come without the other.Prediction: Hull City 0 Manchester City 2
