PREVIEW: HULL CITY (A)

8 November 2023

An in-depth look at our hosts at the MKM Stadium in the Sky Bet Championship

- Hull City vs Huddersfield Town
- Saturday 11 November 2023, 3pm kick-off
- A look ahead to what to expect from Hull City

Town will make the 70 mile trip to Humberside on Saturday afternoon to face Hull City at the MKM Stadium, marking the 50th time the sides have met in all-competitions.

Having first crossed paths at the old Leeds Road on 2 January 1911 in what was then Division Two, the Terriers have won 26 of the 49 meetings between the sides thus far, drawing 12 times with Hull City coming out on top on 21 occasions.

In a good spell of form against the Tigers, it’s been seven games - stretching back to 2016 - since Town tasted defeat in this game, with Hull enjoying their own decade run of dominance with five straight wins over the Terriers between 2005 and 2015.

THE OPPOSITION

A busy off-season for the Tigers with Liam Rosenior overseeing his first summer transfer window since taking over, 13 players were allowed to leave the MKM Stadium on a permanent basis with a further 15 departing on loan.

To offset that, 13 new players have been introduced on permanent contracts, with five more arriving on loan deals.

Starting the season well, Hull have lost just four times in their opening 15 games, winning six and drawing five to amass 23 points whilst sitting in ninth position. Just two points shy of the top six and the Play-Offs, the Terriers are currently eight points behind the Tigers in the Sky Bet Championship.

Liam Rosenior Hull City Match Preview 2023 16x9.png

THIER MANAGER

39-year-old Liam Rosenior’s first job as manager after being appointed in November 2022, the former full-back began his coaching career with Brighton & Hove Albion in their academy before making the move to Derby County.

First a specialist coach with Derby before becoming Assistant Manager to Wayne Rooney, he was briefly Interim Manager after Rooney’s departure, leaving the side himself once the club had hired their next permanent head coach.

Since arriving back at Hull City - for whom he played between 2010 and 2015 - Rosenior has won 14 of the 45 games he’s been in charge for, drawing 19 and losing 12, with his side scoring 52 and conceding 49 in that time.

LAST TIME OUT

It was an away loss at the Hawthorns for Hull City last time out, with the Baggies running out 3-1 winners thanks to goals from Wallace, Phillips and Ajayi.

Having fallen behind inside 15 minutes, the Tigers did equalise before the break before conceding twice more in the second half. Having enjoyed more of the ball, Hull registered one less shot on goal than West Brom, with the home side clinical when it mattered most.

Previous Starting XI: Allsop; Coyle, Jones, McLoughlin, Greaves; Morton, Seri; Traore, Tufan, Twine; Delap (4-2-3-1)

FORMATION

Rosenior has rarely deviated from his 4-2-3-1 system since taking over at Hull City, with a spell lined up in a 4-4-2 for four matches across January and February last season his longest stretch without playing his favoured shape.

Despite twice experiment with a 3-4-2 in October, Hull have reverted to 4-2-3-1 in their last two outings and they overcame Preston North End 1-0 at home and lost 3-1 away to West Brom.

A system that allows them to commit bodies forward both centrally and out wide whilst still being able to maintain a solid block defensively behind them, Hull have shown the ability to switch for period within games to 4-4-2, either to promote more bodies into central areas or to provide further support up top to their often sole forward.

WHO TO WATCH

Alfie Jones

First joining Hull while in Sky Bet League One in the 2020/21 campaign after leaving Southampton, the defender has grown in stature within the Tigers side over time, culminating with a Player of the Year win at the end of the 2022/23 campaign with Liam Rosenior singling him out for the award. Well clear of six feet tall, the central defender has played every available minute for his side this season, with his game still improving as he enters his prime at 26 years old. A clear favourite of Rosenior’s, he agreed a new three-year deal with Hull in the summer.

Alfie Jones Hull City Match Preview 2023 16x9.png

Jean Michael Seri

Ivorian midfielder Seri first came onto most supporters’ radars in England after making an eye-catching move to Fulham from Nice in the summer of 2018. Leaving the West London side twice on loan to Galatasaray and Bordeaux before the expiration of his contract, Hull City picked him up on a three-year deal on a free transfer in the summer of 2022. An all-action central midfielder with 45 caps for the Côte d’Ivoire to his name, Seri has made two assists so far his campaign, starting each Sky Bet Championship fixture for his side.

Jean Michel Seri Hull City Match Preview 2023 16x9.png

Liam Delap

On loan from Manchester City, the 20-year-old forward is the son of former Stoke City midfielder Rory Delap, with Liam following in his father’s footsteps by representing the Potters on loan in the 2022/23 campaign. Now on his third loan in the Sky Bet Championship after spending the second period of 2023 with Preston North End, it seems Delap is beginning to find his feet in first team football with four goals and one assist in the 15 appearances he’s made so far. Often playing as a long forward, Delap has now built up his fitness to complete three full matches on the bounce for Hull, having previously been substituted off in the second half in 10 other outings.

Liam Delap Hull City Match Preview 2023 16x9.png

TOWN TEAM NEWS

Town Manager Darren Moore will share an update on the availability within his squad at his next press conference on Friday 10 November when he speaks to the media.

KIT

With the home side in their traditional orange and black, the Terriers will line-up in blue and white at the MKM Stadium!

Once again, our home shirt will be adorned with a poppy as we continue to support the Royal British Legion's poppy appeal. CLICK HERE to find out more about the charity auction that will follow the game.

With a new stock of home kits recently received, you can make one of our 2023/24 strips your own with all sizes still available.

CLICK HERE to visit our online store!

TICKET NEWS

Saturday’s game will be an all-ticket fixture, with no pay on the day offered by the home side at the MKM Stadium.

Supporters who wish to make the journey east with us will need to purchase their ticket - now available on general sale - before 2pm on Friday 10 November, at which point they will be removed from sale.

CLICK HERE for full information.

Hull CIty A Ticket News 2023 16x9.png

iFOLLOW HTAFC

Kicking off at 3pm on a Saturday, streaming within the UK will not be available as always, however those unable to join us who want to keep up-to-date with every second of the game can do so with an audio match pass!

CLICK HERE to find out more about how to buy.

Match Reports

REPORT: HULL CITY 1-0 TOWN

11 November 2023

Added time goal from Delap denies Town a point.

- Hull City 1-0 Huddersfield Town
- Late Liam Delap goal wins it for Hull City
- Terriers denied despite resolute defensive performance

Town were denied a share of the spoils on the east coast as a 92nd minute goal from Liam Delap gave hosts Hull City all three points at the MKM Stadium.

Similarly to the draw with Watford last weekend, the Terriers had stifled the opposition for the majority of the game whilst creating some half chances on the break, but in the end a snapshot in the area meant that the Terriers returned home with nothing.

Darren Moore made one change for the game, with club captain Jonathan Hogg returning from suspension to replace Jaheim Headley. We kept our 3-4-3 formation from the previous weekend, so Ben Wiles moved out to the right and Sorba Thomas to the left of the front three with Kyle Hudlin.

As was the case against the Hornets, the idea was to stay compact in defence and spring on the break. The first of those breaks came as early as the second minute when Hudlin headed a corner clear to Thomas and he found Wiles, who sprinted away down the right. He tried to return it to Hudlin at the far post, but the big forward was adjudged to foul the final defender when challenging for the ball.

At the other end, Town’s defence had to block many crosses and shots. The most frequent men to get in the way of things were Matty Pearson and Ben Jackson, who had to stay alert against danger-man Jaden Philogene.

On the other side, Helik had to carefully watch Liam Delap, who had impressive strength and mobility.

Hudlin had another presentable chance in the 10th minute when Hogg intercepted a pass on halfway and immediately played the ball forward. The former Solihull Moors man had made an intelligent arcing run to find space, but his attempted side-footed effort from 20 yards was way too close to goalkeeper Ryan Allsop.

Our next chance to attack came just before the half hour. Wiles sent a good ball towards Thomas and although it was cut out, Yuta Nakayama picked up the seconds. He immediately transferred it to Thomas on the right and the Wales international was unlucky to see his curling effort flash just wide of the far post with Allsop watching in hope.

Hull started to test Lee Nicholls from range as the half continued, with our goalkeeper pushing away speculative efforts from Philogene and then Turkey international Ozan Tufan. One of those saves led to a corner that was worked short and eventually found midfielder Jean Michael Seri in space on the edge of the box, but he curled wide.

The big danger moment in the first half came five minutes from time when a Hull player was tripped in a crowd of Town players, giving the hosts a well-placed free kick on the edge of the box. However, they turned down the chance to shoot and tried to clip it into the box, where Nakayama was fouled to alleviate the pressure.

Another set piece led to a close call in the 46th minute, with Helik tripping Delap. This time they clipped a clever reverse ball into the box for Tufan, who hadn’t been tracked by Thomas, but his ball across the box was missed by everyone in the middle and drifted wide.

Hull switched from a back three to a 4-4-2 on the hour mark as the Terriers continued to frustrate them and created another chance in the 67th minute whilst Town were down to 10 men as Thomas received treatment. A clearance from Nakayama fell fortuitously to Delap and he advanced to the dead ball line before pulling to back to Scott Twice, but his first-time effort was comfortably wide of the near post.

Nicholls tipped a Tufan header from a narrow angle over his crossbar and got a strong hand to a low cross from Morton as Hull started to put more and more balls into the box, and he had to bravely dive at the feet of Tufan soon after – albeit the Hull man was being flagged for offside.

Delap went as close as he had done to breaking the deadlock in the 82nd minute, leaping well to connect with Tufan’s cross and cannoning a header against the crossbar. The ball looped into the air, and Pearson did remarkably well to win the second header with Nicholls stranded.

The fourth official signalled nine minutes added, and it was heartbreak for Town in the second. Substitute Vinagre delivered a ball into the box that seemed to hit the shins of Philogene and ricochet into the path of Delap, who hit an instinctive first-time shot past Nicholls’ left side and into the corner.

Town’s team (5-4-1)
Lee Nicholls; Ben Jackson, Matty Pearson, Michał Helik, Tom Lees, Yuta Nakayama; Ben Wiles, Rarmani Edmonds-Green (Jaheim Headley, 73’), Jonathan Hogg ©, Sorba Thomas; Kyle Hudlin (Kian Harratt, 88’)

Unused substitutes
Chris Maxwell; Josh Ruffels, Josh Koroma, Brahima Diarra, Tom Edwards, David Kasumu, Josh Austerfield

Town bookings
Sorba Thomas (20’), Rarmani Edmonds-Green (22’), Lee Nicholls (63’)

Gate
20,630