The last game of the Championship’s opening round features two teams faced with financial insecurity throughout the off-season. One of them received help (Aston Villa), the other one didn’t (Hull City). The two will square off at 20:45 (CET) at KCOM Stadium in Hull.
Hull City off-season in retrospect – Nigel Adkins to have his work cut out
Hull City had high aspirations coming into last season but finished a mere 18th. The poor results led to a few key players leaving the squad. Three of the most experienced members, goalkeeper Allan McGregor (36), centre-back Michael Dawson (34) and midfielder Sebastian Larsson (33) all left the club alongside with centre-forward Abel Hernandez, who’s with CSKA Moscow now. The Tigers didn’t get anything in return, as all of their contracts ran out.
Nigel Adkins wasn’t given funds to buy new players because of a troublesome financial situation at the club, so he’ll have to enter the new season with a younger, less experienced team. Several cheap options were added, the likes of 21-year-old centre-back Reece Burke (West Ham United), 23-year-old centre-back Jordy de Wijs (PSV Eindhoven), 24-year-old goalkeeper George Long (Sheffield United), fullback Eric Lichaj (Nottingham Forest), fullback Todd Kane (Chelsea loan) and winger David Milinkovic.
Hull City team news and injury report
Hull played a total of six friendlies in July, winning only the first one against Maritimo. Two losses and three draws don’t promise anything good in what should be a busy first month. With Hernandez gone and Frazier Campbell on the shelf, Nouha Dicko should get the nod as the team’s starting centre-forward. He made 29 appearances last season, scoring four goals. Ondrej Mazuch, Reece Burke, Will Keane, James Weir and Jordy de Wijs are all expected to miss the contest, while Kamil Grosicki and Jackson Irvine are unavailable following their World Cup assignments.
Aston Villa should do well again under Steve Bruce
Aston Villa had a turbulent off-season as well. Owner Tony Xia was forced to sell a majority stake to Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris to save the club from potential bankruptcy. Luckily for Villa fans, that problem was solved, but then another one surfaced when Thierry Henry suddenly became available. Rumours said the new owner wanted to replace Steve Bruce with the Arsenal legend, but the veteran coach received a vote of confidence by the board recently. Regardless, he’ll be on a tight leash considering Aston Villa is expected to battle for promotion. Anything less will be seen as a failure.
Jack Grealish has also been a frequent topic in transfer news, with Tottenham eager to make him a Spur. Without the €40 million influx of cash provided by Egypt’s richest man, Grealish would’ve probably be gone by now. As things stand, he’s still a member of Aston Villa. The financial mess resulted in no transfer activity by the club until this week, when Andre Moreira was loaned from Atletico Madrid to be Jed Steer’s backup goalkeeper.
Despite the problems, Aston Villa has had a promising pre-season, with the 1-3 loss to West Ham being the only one from their six games played. 20-year-old Andre Green looks like a rising star. Even without John Terry, Christopher Samba and Gabriel Agbonlahor, this is still an experienced squad. James Chester, Glen Whelan, Mile Jedinak, Birkir Bjarnason, Albert Adomah and captain Ahmed Elmohamady bring stability and confidence which should help The Claret and Blue do well this season as well. Just to remind you, they lost to Fulham in the Championship playoff final at Wembley at the end of May.
Hull City vs. Aston Villa prediction
These two teams shared the spoils in both of last season’s meetings. We should see another tight affair this time around, but if anyone has the edge, it is Aston Villa.
Hull City vs. Aston Villa Betting Odds
Hull City 3
Draw 3.25
Aston Villa 2.6