Hull’s lack of firepower
No Shane Long and no Nikica Jelavic for Hull this weekend, with both cup-tied in the competition, and Steve Bruce’s side are seriously depleted up front. If they do, as previously mentioned, start with just one up front, that is likely to be Yannick Sagbo, who scored against third-tier Sheffield United in the last round, but has managed only 2 goals in 28 appearances in league games this season.
The fact that the most times a Hull player has netted in the Premier League this season is only two more than Sagbo speaks volumes about their lack of firepower up front. Long and Jelavic are their joint highest goalscorers with 4 apiece, and so it will likely be a set piece that provides their best chance of glory. Excluding own goals, only a higher proportion of Cardiff’s goals (30%) were headed than Hull’s in the Premier League this season (28.6%), so they will look to get their big men forward at corners.
However, that they only managed to score in 1 of their 8 games against the top 4 this season does not bode well for this weekend’s underdogs.