Hull v Blackburn Tips: Back in-form Rovers to tame Tigers

“We’ll only lose our stake should the visitors suffer a first defeat in 11, or a first reverse in 15 against bottom-half dwellers this season”

Hull well-beaten by Stoke

Hull manager Grant McCann admitted his side could have few complaints about Sunday’s 2-0 home defeat to Stoke, saying the Tigers got exactly what they deserved. City succumbed to goals in each half from the play-off chasing Potters who, in truth, were not required to leave second gear as they coasted to a comfortable victory.

It was a dispiriting display from the Humbersiders having come hot on the heels of an eye-catching effort against Everton a week previous. And McCann didn’t hold back in his post-match assessment, saying: “We got what we deserved, it’s probably the poorest we’ve been for a couple of months. We simply were not good enough and weren’t at the races today.”

Hull made two changes for the contest with Tom Huddlestone handed a first start since October, while Ryan Longman was restored to the starting XI. However, the Tigers were unable to make an impact, losing the shot count 5-22 and managing a solitary strike on-target despite enjoying the majority of possession against a much-changed Stoke side.

Blackburn extend unbeaten streak

Blackburn maintained pressure on the teams at the top end of the Championship by grinding out a gutsy 1-0 win at Cardiff with 10 men. Despite being far from their vintage best, Joe Rothwell’s magnificent individual goal in the first-half proved to be the vital difference as Rovers extended their unbeaten league run to 10 matches.

Victory means Tony Mowbray‘s men have now triumphed in eight of their last 10 Championship outings, although they were forced to hold on for the 15 minutes following Ryan Nyambe‘s dismissal for a second bookable offence. But Blackburn displayed the defensive qualities that have stood them extremely well recently to pick up the three points.

Speaking post-match, Mowbray was pleased with his team’s efforts, saying: “For the first 20 minutes I felt as though we were in control, moving the ball, looked confident, scored a great goal. I would have preferred us to play how we did for 20 minutes for 80 minutes but it wasn’t to be. We had to dig in. Pleased with the resilience, a brilliant clean sheet away.”

Hull have lost each of their last five league meetings with Blackburn without even scoring. The Tigers are looking for their first victory in eight Championship clashes with Rovers on Wednesday and the Humbersiders are hoping to improve upon a W1-D2-L3 record when hosting Blackburn across their six league meetings here over the past two decades.

Hull 3.1085/40 have lost each of their last three Championship games and are winless in five league outings (W0-D2-L3) since November. City own the third-worst home record in the division (W3-D3-L6) and have managed just W2-D2-L12 when taking on teams outside of the bottom-10 this term, failing to even score in 11 of those 16 showdowns.

Since a 7-0 home defeat to Fulham in November, Blackburn 2.447/5 boast a remarkable W8-D2-L0 return, keeping seven clean sheets in their latest eight league encounters. Rovers have claimed an excellent W11-D3-L0 when taking on the bottom-half teams, conceding more than a solitary strike just once. Tony Mowbray’s team have W5-D4-L3 on the road.

Goals have tended to be at a premium in Hull City showdowns. The Tigers matches have returned the third-fewest goals per-game averages (2.04) as only 7/25 (28%) have produced Over 2.5 Goals [2.02] profit. Even so, five of those goal-heavy games arrived in the 12 tussles at the MKM Stadium with home matches boasting a 2.25 goals per-game average.

Blackburn have been involved in many more entertaining encounters, yet Rovers have tended to be tighter on their travels. The visitors’ away days are averaging only 2.08 goals as eight of their 12 games as guests featured fewer than three strikes, and considering the club’s recent defensive performances, a repeat could be on the cards this midweek.

With little change from the goal markets, I’m more than happy to instead invest faith in the attractive 1.768/11 on Blackburn 0 in the Asian Handicap. Essentially the same wager as backing Rovers in the Draw No Bet market, we’ll only lose our stake should the visitors suffer a first defeat in 11 and a first reverse in 15 against bottom-half dwellers this season.