The KC Stadium hosts an all-Championship tie in the FA Cup this weekend as Hull City take on Birmingham City.
Hull are having a pretty strong season in the Championship this time around as they find themselves on the verge of the playoff places.
They’re coming into this one in poor form, however, having lost three of their last four games, the most recent of which was a 3-1 defeat away at Sheffield Wednesday, a side currently in the relegation zone.
Admittedly, the game was decided by a red card in the first half for Tyler Morton with the game still at 0-0, but it was yet another poor result for the Tigers who will want to get back to winning ways in this one.
The FA Cup will not be high on their agenda given they’ve got their sights firmly set on the playoffs, but a good cup run can often be a catalyst to better league form so they should not totally disregard its importance.
Their form at home has been up and down as they come into this one having won three and drawn two of their last five games on home soil.
Hull have gone out of this competition at this stage of the season in both of the last two seasons, but given that was at the hands of Premier League opposition they’ll feel they can reverse that trend here.
They have an excellent record against Birmingham City having lost just once in the previous nine meetings, winning five of those, and given the shape Birmingham are currently in there’s no reason why they should extend that run here.
Birmingham City’s season has gone from promising to disastrous in the space of just a few months.
After parting ways with manager John Eustace in October with the side 6th in the league table, Birmingham have since descended into relegation fodder under the guidance of Wayne Rooney and they’re now coming into this game managerless after dismissing the former Manchester United forward from his role.
They’ve won just two of the fifteen games Rooney spent in charge and they enter this one winless in their last five, with their most recent game a 3-0 hammering away at Leeds United.
Whether interim manager Steve Spooner can drag a performance out of this side is anyone’s guess, but it’s hard to believe they’ll be as bad as they have been over the course of the last two or so months.
They’ve won only one of their last eight ties on the road in this competition and it’s unlikely that will change here.
For our Hull vs. Birmingham prediction, we’re going for a 2-1 win for the home side.
Don’t forget to check out the rest of our previews, tips and offers for this weekend’s action.