Hull-Manchester United: Preview

Hull v Manchester United

Sunday 24 May 2009, KC Stadium, Kickoff: 4PM

Hull

Hull City AFC drew 1-1 with Bolton Wanderers on the road in their last match, their first point in six matches.

The draw has taken Hull out of the relegation zone, leading 18th-place Newcastle by a single point and 19th-place Middlesbrough by three points and a four-goal aggregate difference.

Hull City will be without Bernard Mendy, Anthony Gardner, Ian Ashbee and Jimmy Bullard for this final match of the season.

Manchester United

Manchester United drew 0-0 with Arsenal at home last weekend, to clinch the Premier League title for the third year in a row.

Central defender Rio Ferdinand is fighting to be fit for both this match and the Champions League final against Barcelona on Wednesday night, whilst Manchester United's other injuries are Ben Foster, Wes Brown and Owen Hargreaves.

Prediction

Earlier this season, the Man Utd vs Hull fixture ended in a 4-3 win for United at Old Trafford.

With Man Utd assured of the Premier League title, and with their attentions firmly set on Wednesday night's Champions League final against Barcelona in Rome, Sir Alex Ferguson will likely rest many of his key players in preparation.

Hull, meanwhile, have absolutely everything to play for and will be relegated from the league if either they lose against United and Newcastle defeat Everton, or if Newcastle draw and Hull are defeated.

And so the Tigers will have to draw on the spirit which saw them go on a four-match winning streak at the beginning of the season and record wins over the likes of Arsenal, Tottenham and West Ham, as well as holding as high as fourth position in the league in October of last year.

But snatching a win—or even a draw—against any Manchester United side will be no mean feat, and may prove the biggest challenge of Hull's season.

However, with relegation potentially facing them at the end of the 90 minutes, there's no better time for the Tigers to put in the performance of a lifetime and secure a place in next season's league.

Manchester United enter the fixture as the favourites to win, as they almost always do. But with the Red Devils likely to field a much depleted side with nothing more to play for in the league, the desperate Hull side could pull off a surprise result and grab a point, or even a shock three, in this crucial match for their future.

Read the complete preview with the best betting odds at the Hull vs Manchester United odds and preview page now!

Then read our other weekend football betting previews: Sunderland vs Chelsea, Liverpool vs Spurs and Arsenal vs Stoke too.