Match Preview: Hull City v Aston Villa

By: Chris | December 29th, 2008

Hull City v Aston Villa
Premier League
KC Stadium
Tuesday 30th December 2008, 8.00pm

Aston Villa close out their superb 2008 with a tricky away trip to wounded Hull City.

Premier League Form Guide

Aston Villa: DDWWWD

Three wins on the bounce for the first time in what seems like forever were completed by a hard-fought but fortuitous win at West Ham United. This followed wins over Everton and Bolton Wanderers. Before that Villa drew with Manchester United and Fulham, and on Boxing Day we drew with Arsenal thanks to Zat Knight’s fantastic late leveller.

Hull City: DDWDLL

After a great start to the season, Phil Brown’s Hull City deserve their relatively lofty league position. But things have been more difficult recently. A win over Middlesbrough was achieved late on, preceded by draws with Portsmouth and Stoke and followed by a point from Anfield. Worryingly for Hull, they face Villa after hidings at home to Sunderland and away at Manchester City.

Team News

Zat Knight and Nigel Reo-Coker will continue in the back four with Martin Laursen and Carlos Cuellar injured. Luke Young will continue at left back. The rest of the side should remain unchanged – Gareth Barry captaining from midfield alongside Steve Sidwell, Stiliyan Petrov, Ashley Young and James Milner, with Gabriel Agbonlahor leading the line.

Hull defender Sam Ricketts returns following a well-earned suspension. Paul McShane, who appeared to be playing everywhere on Boxing Day will move from left back to right back as a result, with Bernard Mendy shifting back to midfield.

Why Hull away is a must-win

With four points from two Arsenal games in the bag, Villa have their destiny in their own hands. But that means we need to win tomorrow night to take back fourth. David James handed Arsenal a lucky win against Portsmouth to put pressure on the Villa, but the calculation is simple: we need to match or better Arsenal until May.

Betting