The Tigers have a win, draw and defeat from their opening trio of league encounters
Hull City’s start to the season has raised expectations a little after a difficult summer off the pitch, which saw the Tigers hit with some significant transfer restrictions.
After struggling to stay up on the final day of last season, only avoiding relegation on goal difference, City were hit by a three-window ban on buying or paying loan fees for new players.
After a lengthy appeal, that strong punishment was reduced to two windows with the third suspended pending any further breaches, but it saw the Tigers widely tipped to go down.
Whether it be bookmakers, pundits or other supporters, many had the Tigers as one of the three teams to go down, along with crisis-club Sheffield Wednesday.
City, however, started the season with a draw at rampant Coventry City and a deserved home success over Oxford United, before losing at the MKM Stadium against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.
That positive start, coupled with some promising activity in the transfer market despite their struggles, has seen their hopes of survival increase, according to one supercomputer prediction.
According to AceOdds, City will finish 17th and well above danger, but a long way from the top six. Oxford, Wrexham and Wednesday will go down, while at the other end, Southampton, who were beaten at home by resurgent Stoke City at the weekend, will win the league, followed by Leicester City.
“The supercomputer simulated the league seasons 100,000 times,” AceOdds said. “The supercomputer takes into account all match results from this pre-season and the current season, projecting the season based on both pre-season expectations, fixture difficulty and xG earned both for and against during the season. It now also integrates team financial data and player values from Transfermarkt. This additional layer of data provides a more nuanced understanding of team capabilities and potential performance variations.”
How the table looks according to ‘BETSiE’….
How are you feeling about the campaign now? Have your say in the comments below…
Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle for the 2025/26 season, saving members £192 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games this season, an increase of up to 100 more.