Hull City began their season with a breathtaking 2-0 win over Manchester United at the MKM Stadium on Saturday, defying all the pundits who thought the Tigers would struggle to lay a glove on the 13-time Premier League winners.
Sergej Jakirovic’s men deservedly took all the plaudits for a stunning performance to see off Michael Carrick’s United, thanks to first-half goals from central defenders Semi Ajayi and Nobel Mendy.
That result leaves City fifth in the top-flight after the first weekend of action, which came to an end in West London on Monday night with Chelsea winning a five-goal thriller against near neighbours Fulham at Craven Cottage.
During Monday’s broadcast on Sky Sports, Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville gave their annual predictions for the season ahead, and despite that historic victory, little changed when it came to their assessment of the Tigers.
Both still have City going down this season, with Neville believing all three newly-promoted teams will make an instant return to the Championship, while former Liverpool defender Carragher predicting it will be City, Ipswich Town and Sunderland.
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Gary Neville
“I hope that one or two of the promoted sides stay up, but I’ve not got the faith I had last season. Last season, the first weekend we did the Leeds game against Everton. It was really positive and then Sunderland, we saw them beat West Ham, and I just thought there’s no way they’re going down, Sunderland. Having watched what I’ve seen this weekend, I’m going to go for the three promoted teams to go down.
“It’s unfair to judge Coventry on Friday night (3-0 loss at champions Arsenal) because they’re playing the best team by a mile, and that was a horrific start for them in terms of a fixture, so I wouldn’t judge that. Likewise, Hull, just a massive experience beating Manchester United, I wouldn’t pay too much attention to that, and the Ipswich win against Sunderland, there’s a long way to go.”
Jamie Carragher
“Why Sunderland? The fact that they’ve got European football, they’re going to be doing a lot of Thursday-Sunday. I think Sunderland last season reminded me a little bit of Sheffield United under Chris Wilder, where they came up and had a really brilliant season, finished high up the table but a lot of the games, like Sunderland, you win by the odd goal. I’m not saying it’s luck but their underlying numbers had them not far away from relegation.”
Who is at risk?
Neville believes Fulham, under new manager Alvaro Arbeloa, will be in real danger of being dragged into a relegation battle, while Carragher feels it will be Crystal Palace.
Carragher: “Crystal Palace haven’t had a great pre-season. They lost the first game at Everton, which, to be fair, they were actually very unlucky when you look at the chances they had. I know they had Europe last season, but a new manager, new in the Premier League, lost a few players, still in Europe… I’d probably go Crystal Palace to have a scare.”
Neville: “Watching Fulham [against Chelsea], that’s a risk, that’s a big risk. Young players, splitting your centre-backs like that, being open. We’ll know a bit more after they go to Sunderland next weekend.”
At the other end of the table, both had Arsenal to retain the Premier League title. Carragher backed Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool to finish 2nd, 3rd and fourth respectively. Neville went with Chelsea, City and Manchester United.
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