Written by Tomi Rantanen
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West Ham vs Hull City: Reinforced Tigers to deepen Big Sam’s woes?
Both of the clubs were remarkably active during the recently closed transfer window by adding no less than nine and eight first-team players respectively. Even if the new acquisitions usually take some time to gel and get to match fitness, their impact can be simulated by the AccuScore engine to see the immediate effects. Let’s take a look at the simulation run with the most likely starting XI’s for this Monday night matchup.
AccuScore's British Premier League Expert Picks for every match
As is shown in the chart above, AccuScore simulation predicts Hull City to win with more than 60% probability. To dig a little bit deeper, we can see this is caused by the radical difference in goal scoring probabilities. Whereas West Ham is almost completely lacking any scoring threat from up front, Hull City boasts the likes of Nikica Jelavic and newly acquired Abel Hernandez with strong scoring support from the midfield. Indeed, Mohamed Diame, who was brought in from West Ham on the transfer deadline is more likely to score a goal than any but one West Ham player, midfielder Mark Noble.
It is easy to predict West Ham will have trouble scoring in the absence of Andy Carroll and with the new imports Enner Valencia and Mauro Zarate still looking for match fitness. Even if Big Sam Allardyce is known for his defensive mentality and sometimes magical touch in organizing the back four, it is unlikely that the Hammers will be able to stand strong when visiting Steve Bruce’s hungry Tigers.
It is yet uncertain which formation and which players Bruce finds suitable to implement against West Ham, but as the AccuScore simulation suggests there are multiple options to choose from without jeopardizing the scoring threat and while still staying strong in the back. In all likelihood Hull City will be on the driver’s seat from the beginning.
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