Former Arsenal striker Alan Smith feels Hull City can take some encouragement from the way Yorkshire rivals Leeds United frustrated the champions at the Emirates last month.
While Leeds ultimately went on to lose 2-1 against the Gunners, Daniel Farke’s men frustrated the hosts and took a 55th-minute lead before two goals in eight minutes turned the game on its head. For long periods the Whites caused Mikel Arteta’s men some serious problems.
That, Smith believes, should give the Tigers pointers, and reason to be optimistic about their quest to give the champions a bloodied nose in their own backyard.
City will arrive at the Emirates on Saturday as firm underdogs, but they’ve shown in their opening nine games that they can be a difficult nut to crack for their opposition, losing just two of their first nine league games.
Few will give Sergej Jakirovic’s side much of a chance this weekend, and though Smith accepts it will be a stern test, trying to stay in the game as long as possible will be absolutely crucial to having any chance of getting a result.
“I mean, they (City) have been scoring goals, haven’t they? It’s not been so much of a problem,” Smith told Hull Live via BestBettingSites. “They need to just try and frustrate Arsenal. I don’t think they’d want to go toe-to-toe with the champions. They’ve been physical this season; they’ve put themselves about.
“So try and stay in the game if they can, and get the home crowd a little bit nervous. Leeds did it for a time a few weeks back. So I think that would be the objective for Hull, to put in quite a defensive performance, I would imagine, for the most part, and then try and nick something. But it won’t be easy.”
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Some have suggested City’s game against the Gunners is something of a free-hit, and while Jakirovic and his players are unlikely to share that sentiment given their belief that they can take points from every game. Smith isn’t completely sold on the idea.
“I think you could describe this as a free hit. All managers want to get points every match, but nobody’s expecting anything from Hull here. Nobody expected them to do as well as they have so far. So you never quite know.”
Taking six points from their first two games against Manchester United and Coventry City, along with back-to-back clean sheets, gave the Tigers a strong platform, something Smith believes has given them huge confidence.
“I think that opening day win over Manchester United was huge, not just for the three points, but I think it injected belief into the squad, which you need when you’re coming up to the Premier League,” he continued. “It’s easy for players to think, oh, am I good enough? Can I go up against this opponent I’ve been watching on the telly? So yeah, I think that win gave them a real lift on the opening day, and they’ve taken that on, really. So full credit to them.”
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