Hull City head coach Sergej Jakirovic will set about picking a Hull City team he believes can get points on opening day when Manchester United visit the MKM Stadium, as the Tigers embark on their first Premier League season in a decade.
It’s been a big summer of change at City following their promotion at Wembley three months ago, with 11 new arrivals coming in, and a host of those who featured in the play-off final all moving on.
The Tigers’ continued battle with injuries means Jakirovic will be unable to call upon a flurry of those new arrivals, as well as existing players like Charlie Hughes, unavailable for the foreseeable future.
JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! Latest Hull City news and analysis on our Hull Live FB page
Jack Butland, Oscar Zambrano and Joe Gelhardt are all unavailable, along with Hughes and Matty Jacob, though it’s expected the left-back will leave before the transfer window closes. Hidemasa Morita could be named on the bench, as he looks to get his first minutes since joining the club.
There will not be any new arrivals added to Jakirovic’s matchday squad before the visit of the Red Devils, so Jakirovic must decide which of his new players are in a position to start.
It’s almost a shoo-in that Konstantinos Tzolakis will get his debut in goal, but less obvious is whether or not Jakirovic decides to start Nobel Mendy or Lucas Herrington in the centre of defence. It’s perhaps more likely in the opening game that he’ll go with the tried and tested John Egan and Semi Ajayi, with Ryan Giles and Lewie Coyle as the full-backs.
In midfield, both Elliot Stroud and Jens Hjerto Dahl were given the nod in the final pre-season outing last weekend against Nice, with Stroud deployed wide and Liam Millar on the bench. That could be a system that Jakirovic replicates against United, with Mo Belloumi on the other side and Oli McBurnie up front. Gourna-Douath could well come in and replace Hjerto-Dahl in the one change from the starting XI against the French side.
The decision that will likely dictate his personnel will be the system Jakirovic opts to use. Last season, a variation of the 4-3-3 was his preferred option, but at times, he went with a back three and wing-backs. Given the level of opposition the Tigers will face this season, it would not be a surprise to see him deploy a three more often than not.
City’s predicted XI: Tzolakis, Giles, Ajayi, Egan, Coyle, Crooks, Slater, Gourna-Douath, Stroud, Belloumi, McBurnie.
Pick your starting XI using the slider below….
Here at Hull Live , we are dedicated to bringing you the best Hull City coverage and analysis. Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group.
You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe. You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.