Hull City take on Swansea City on Saturday looking for a first Premier League win in ten games. Brad Rial picks out five things they must do to pick up the three points.
Take advantage of Swansea's away form
As poor as City's home form has been so far this season, Swansea's fortunes on the road have been just as bad.
Not since the opening day at Manchester United have the Swans won on their travels and only the three promoted sides have poorer away records than Garry Monk's men.
Swansea have picked up just five points away from home this season so they may well be the perfect opponents for City to face on Saturday.
In fairness to the Welsh side, they have already faced three of last season's top five away from home, as well as high-flying West Ham, so it's perhaps no surprise they're not pulling up trees on their travels.
But they have also struggled at Stoke and Sunderland, sides that are of a similar ilk to City.The Tigers may be short of confidence but in Swansea they face a side that is beatable.
Handle Bony and Sigurdsson
No player can better Wilfired Bony's tally of 20 Premier League goals in 2014. The Ivorian is bang in form and whoever starts at the heart of City's defence will have to be on their guard.
Bony failed to score in his first six Premier League games. But he has since netted eight in his last ten, including four in his last five and is the focal point of this Swansea side.
Bony may be a big, strong unit but there is also a subtle intelligence to his game. He is constantly making off-the-ball runs and linking up play. When he plays well, his team invariably does too.
Gylfi Sigurdsson is another man arriving at the KC on the back of a string of fine performances. Only Cesc Fabregas has more assists than the Icelandic international and his partnership with Bony is one of the most fruitful in the division.
Sigurdsson possesses an unerring ability to find space and the onus will be on City's defensive midfielders – who will likely be Jake Livermore and David Meyler in the absence of Tom Huddlestone and Mohamed Diame – to deny him.
Deal with the absence of key players
Mohamed Diame and Michael Dawson will miss the Swansea game through injury, while Tom Huddlestone is to serve the first of a four-game ban.
Any side that loses three key men will struggle and it will be intriguing to see how Bruce deals with the respective absences.
Stephen Quinn appears the most likely to replace Huddlestone in the centre of midfield, while Alex Bruce should be restored at the heart of the defence after deputising for Dawson at Chelsea.
It will be a patched-up side but the likes of Quinn, Bruce and David Meyler – who should also keep his place – can certainly be called upon to perform.
Stay focused until the final whistle
If the form of the respective sides this season is anything to go by, do not be surprised if Saturday's game isn't decided until late on.
Swansea have conceded six goals in the final fifteen minutes of games this campaign – almost a third of the overall amount they have let in.
By the same token, City have conceded four goals in the final five minutes of matches. Such statistics suggest that both sides tire as games enter the latter stages.
So it is vital that City's level of focus remains right up until the final whistle. There would be nothing like a last-minute winner to raise the spirits ahead of a crucial couple of games.
Throw caution to the wind
Goals win games. A measly two have been scored by City in the past eight games – a statistic that should deeply concern Steve Bruce.
His players need to rediscover the knack of goalscoring before long but the question is: how do they go about doing it?
Bruce spoke last week of how he couldn't wait to start Nikica Jelavic and Abel Hernandez up front together again. Were it not for the form of Sone Aluko, the decision to start the pair in tandem on Saturday would be a no-brainer.
Jelavic and Hernandez is a partnership that has been proven to work this season. The last time they started together, against Crystal Palace, was arguably City's most complete performance of the season.
But it would be incredibly harsh on Aluko should he be dropped, as he is currently enjoying his best run of form in a while.
Could Aluko start in a side that also includes Jelavic and Hernandez? There is certainly a case for throwing caution to the wind and City have reached the stage where it may be worth a shot.
