Big Match Breakdown: Hull City v Aston Villa

Odds and tips ahead of Championship clash

Neither Hull City nor Aston Villa have enjoyed promising transfer windows thus far. So both sides will be desperate for a lift in tonight’s Championship clash.

Steve Bruce’s Villans will still fancy themselves promotion contenders, while survival is the name of the game for Nigel Adkins’ Tigers.

And you can catch the action live from 7:45pm on Sky Sports Fooball. Ahead of kick-off at the KCOM Stadium, the Coral News Team have all the info in another Big Match Breakdown…

Head-to-Head

Villa have had the better of this fixture over history. The West Midlands giants have won seven of the previous 13 meetings, losing just once.

More recently, it’s been a closer contest. Three of the last six clashes have ended level, with the Tigers the most recent victors (with a 2-0 win in February 2015).

Likely XIs

It’s tough to know what Hull’s starting XI will look like, following so many departures this summer. Chances are Daniel Batty and Jackson Irvine will sit deep in a 4-3-2-1 system, while new boy David Milinkovic could offer a threat on the left wing.

Villa set up in a 4-3-2-1 throughout last season, but Bruce has switched to a 3-5-2 during their recent pre-season games. That’s likely to be the order of the day, with an experienced defensive trio of Alan Hutton, James Chester and Mile Jedinak.

Key Battles

The Tigers’ attacking bite has been weakened by the loss of Abel Hernandez this summer. So the impetus could be on the nippy and tricky Milinkovic to unlock a Villa defence which is largely solid, but short on pace.