Capital One Cup: Man City clash with Bruce’s wounded Tigers

“Once you get to this stage, Man City will be looking at it and thinking Arsenal are out, Chelsea are out, Man United are out,” stated Bruce, whose men are 6/1 to qualify for the semi-finals.

“So there’s a path forward for them and we can only think the same thing. If we can mount a great upset, then we’ll give ourselves a chance, which we did 18 months ago in the FA Cup.

“Let’s go and have a crack..”

“You look at their squad and there is so much depth. They bring on [Wilfried] Bony, [David] Silva’s on the bench and they can move Yaya Toure into a centre forward position.

“Really it doesn’t matter who you play. It’s what we are going to do to try and stop them from playing like we did last year in the Premier League, when we were only a minute away from beating them, so let’s go and have a crack.”

In recent seasons, City have battered Hull 4-1 and 5-1, as well as many wins to nil, making the hosts 27/10 to dispatch four or more again this time out and 31/20 to win both halves on home turf.

Silva set for starting role

Pellegrini may choose to deploy several young guns such as Kelechi Iheanacho and Patrick Roberts in this League Cup encounter, who are 11/10 and 2/1 respectively to strike anytime, but the Chilean coach will be boosted by a possible return for Spaniard Silva.

The pivotal playmaker could make his first start for two months in this quarter-final meeting, giving Bruce’s Tigers even more cause for concern, though prolific frontman Sergio Aguero is unlikely to be risked following a knock during the 3-1 win over Southampton.

Spain international Silva is 5/1 to open proceedings on his potential return to competitive action, while fellow attacker Kevin De Bruyne, who has shone in his teammate’s absence, is evens to dispatch another goal during normal time.

Abel Hernandez will be Hull’s key attacking threat and is 5/1 to strike anytime in 90 minutes, having done so in this fixture last term, Shaun Maloney is 9/2 to grab only a second career goal against City.

Davies demands reaction

Having tasted a rare defeat to Derby last Friday, Hull defender Curtis Davies has rallied his teammates, claiming they risk facing a “pasting” by City if they don’t bounce back positively.

“It is frustrating but it’s the first time we have lost in a long while. We need to put things into perspective. And we need to go again on Tuesday against Manchester City because it will be a big game in terms of how we react,” Davies declared.

“It won’t be the most important match for our season, but if you go there with your heads down you could be on the other end of a pasting.

“Having been part of an FA Cup final team I know how important these competitions are to the fans. We will be going there with the aim to upset the odds.”

Hull will hope to emulate their FA Cup heroics from last year in order to get a result at the Etihad, while Man City are aiming to move one step closer to another appearance at Wembley and potentially add further silverware to their growing cabinet of honours.

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Coral’s top tip: Manchester City have enjoyed plenty of success over Hull City in recent seasons, so back them at 27/10 to fire in four or more goals again on home soil.