The Match
Hull have impressed me this season, even if their form has gone a bit patchy in the last month or two. That being said, they've made it to the semi-finals of the FA Cup (for the first time since 1930), though whether that will have a positive bearing on their performance this weekend remains to be seen. They'll need to make sure they avoid any thoughts of the cup for now, and focus on the job in hand if they're to claim three points here, and in doing so they'd also break their record for most points in a Premier League season. As with their opponents, a win would almost certainly guarantee Premier League survival and they'll be keen to put that issue to bed so they can begin their preparations for Wembley with a spring in their step.
Swansea travel north buoyed by last weekend's win over Norwich, and will undoubtedly feel like a long-standing weight has been lifted now that relegation seems a far less likely scenario. Win this, and the Swans are all but mathematically safe; that's the message Monk will have been drilling in to his players in the buildup to the match and it's nothing but the truth. Given how worried many Swansea fans were this time last week, it seems mad we're now ninety minutes from securing our safety - such is the lot of a fan of a non-Champions League chasing Premiership side, I suppose.
Prior Form (Most recent at top)
| Premier League | Stoke | 1-0 | Hull |
| Premier League | West Ham | 2-1 | Hull |
| Premier League | Hull | 2-0 | West Brom |
| Premier League | Hull | 0-2 | Man City |
| FA Cup | Hull | 3-0 | Sunderland |
| Premier League | Everton | 3-2 | Swansea |
| Premier League | Swansea | 1-2 | West Brom |
| Premier League | Swansea | 1-1 | Crystal Palace |
Team News
Provided by resident fitness guru @BenDinnery - make sure to follow him on Twitter for the latest injury news and views
Good news for supporters of Swansea with no fresh injury concerns as they head to Humberside for their crucial game at the KC Stadium. A win would almost certainly guarantee Premier League survival and manager Garry Monk will be hoping to build upon last week’s solid defensive performance which produced only their third clean sheet in the last eighteen games. Michu is gaining match-fitness with every game and is likely to once again sit in behind Wilfried Bony after both players made major contributions in the win over Norwich.
No fresh injury concerns for Hull City manager Steve Bruce either who will welcome back George Boyd following his three game suspension. Long-term the Tigers are without key midfielder Robbie Brady (Gilmores Groin) and defender Paul McShane (ankle) while goalkeeper Allan McGregor (Cracked Ribs & Kidney) remains in hospital following his collision with Diame against West Ham ten days ago.
Completely guessed lineups
Statistics & Trivia
- Swansea haven't won in their last five visits to Hull, losing four.
- The Swans have scored more goals than any other team in the bottom 12 of the Premier League.
- Swansea have not won back to back Premier League games since December 2012.
- Swansea City have the highest passing accuracy in the top flights this season (86.1per cent), probably due to the fact that they have attempted the highest proportion of passes in their own half of any Premier League side (48per cent).
- Just 9 per cent of Hull’s goals have come in the final 15 minutes of matches, the lowest proportion in the top flight (3 of 33).
- Of the 11 goals Wilfried Bony has scored this season, only one has been the first goal of the game and none have been a winning goal.
- Steve Bruce’s side have lost four of their last five Premier League matches (W1 L4) and won only one of the last six on home soil (W1 D1 L4).
- Despite only joining in January. Nikica Jelavic has already fired in more shots on target than any other Hull City player this season (17).
Straight from the horse's mouth
Garry Monk has reinforced the need for a committed performance from the outset:
"I expect Hull to come out with a real fire in their bellies. They will be desperate to beat us, and we have to match that. If we can do that, then we will give ourselves a chance to show our quality and hopefully that will cause them some problems, but first of all we have to match their intensity.
"We have to earn the right to play, just like we did against Norwich. We did all the basics right last weekend and we have to do that again."
"Hull will be defensively strong and hard to break down, and going forward they have some dangerous players. They also have an experienced manager who knows how to survive in this league, so it will be a very difficult game for us."
http://www.southwales-eveningpost.co.uk/Hull-City-v-Swansea-City-Battle-bubbly-Garry-Monk/story-20911983-detail/story.html#ixzz2xuMdFBDD
Steve Bruce has asked the fans to get behind their team, and is hopefully of a big performance:
“I appeal to the supporters to turn the ground into how it was for Cardiff on the final day of last season. The crowd played their part that day and that can do again. Forget about name changes and all the rest of it this week. Get behind the team and make it an atmosphere like it was against Cardiff.
“We weren’t going to get beat that day and a lot of that was down to the role played by the supporters. It was fantastic. It’s been a great season so far but let’s really make it a season to remember now. We’ve got every opportunity to try and do that in the next couple of weeks.
“We need a big performance. We’ve had our recovery from a busy week and it’s time to get the job finished. Whoever wins won’t be far short but it won’t be easy. I watched Swansea last week at Arsenal and they’re a good side.
“Like most teams that find themselves in Europe for the first time, it’s been a difficult season, but when you look at their team with Bony and Michu up front, they’re a threat. They’ve grown as a club over the last few years and done really well.”
Analysis
It's nice to go into a game without feeling like a loss could see us mired deep in the midst of a relegation battle, isn't it? For both teams, a win this weekend would pretty much see them home in terms of securing their Premier League status for another year, so despite Hull's FA Cup distractions they should be well up for this one.
As for Swansea, the players were given Monday off by the club and Garry Monk commented that when they returned on Tuesday they were perhaps a little too relaxed - though he was at pains to point out that was quickly addressed. Nothing like some shuttle runs to get rid of any lackadaisicality.
It's likely Swansea will stick with the same system which dispensed of Norwich with such ease, and if we're honest we didn't really find top gear last time out, despite impressing. If we go with essentially the same team this weekend and everything clicks Hull could be in trouble - they've got/had major injury problems at the back and if Figueroa is unavailable they could revert to four at the back, as opposed to the 3-5-2/5-3-2 that Bruce has favoured for the majority of this season.
I've been impressed with Hull this season to be honest. I've always rated Steve Bruce, and although the three at the back system was borne of a glut of defenders combined with a lack of goalscoring threat it's gone on to serve them well, and I think by making that type of system work in the Premiership Bruce has confounded critics who had labelled him as a more limited manager than he's since proven himself to be. He's always done well in the transfer market, and keeping Hull up this season will be a great achievement if and when it happens - for both him and his players.
With Hull likely to operate with a packed defence it's distinctly possible that this game won't be the usual "control the midfield and thus you control the game" type of affair. It seems likely this is a game that will be decided up front, and with the midfield likely to be congested it could be the odd bit of quality that makes the difference. Michu is well overdue a goal (having not scored since September) while Bony is in the best form of his (albeit brief) Swansea career. If Hull aren't switched on at the back, they'll pay the price, and with De Guzman seemingly adept at playing out wide and Wayne Routledge also particularly enjoying life, I can definitely see us getting a positive result in this one.