Hull City vs. Everton preview: why the Toffees must win

Everton travel to Hull in a festive spirit after beating Leicester on Boxing Day for the team’s first win away from Goodison since September. 

It’s two wins from three for the Toffees, who should take to the KCOM pitch with added confidence after putting in a collectively strong away performance against the defending champions.

The 2-0 win against Leicester wasn’t the prettiest on the eye, but in a results-driven business that won’t matter too much to Ronald Koeman.

Everton put in a disciplined, well-organised team performance and thoroughly deserved all three points. They won’t get any style points for the display at King Power Stadium but their no-nonsense style of play was effective in getting the result they so direly needed.

And now it’s on to the bottom feeders of the Premier League, Hull City. Koeman is warning his team to remain focused, especially against the sleeping Tigers, who haven’t won in seven top-flight matches.

But Koeman’s comments aside, this is a match Everton must win. And here’s why:

Hull’s recent form

Hull, due to an inferior goal difference, are bottom of the Premier League, having taken only 12 points from 18 matches. They’re on pace for about 25 points for the entire season, which is at least 13 behind where they need to be to stay afloat in the top flight.

The Tigers have a single win in eight games and two in their last 17 matches, one of which came against Swansea, the other clear-cut favorite to make the drop. Hull have been outscored 7-0 in their current three-match losing skid. Taking two from a possible 21 points, Hull have been outscored 15-5 in their last seven matches.

You can see why Hull is touted as the odds-on favorites to make the ill-fated drop.

A mismatch of grand proportions

Hull City, with a meagre 14 goals, sheepishly lay claim to the league’s worst offensive unit. Couple that with the fact that Everton aren’t conceding goals lately and you have a mismatch of epic proportions.

Everton, If you ignore the five goals conceded against Chelsea in early November, would have the Premier League’s third best defensive record. They’ve conceded seven goals in as many matches, three of which came in a poor away performance at Watford. Concessions aside, Everton look more confident and organised at the back than they have since the early stages of the season.

Hull’s only real goal threat is Robert Snodgrass, who has five goals and two assists. The midfielder has scored 42 percent of the club’s goals so Everton should expect to win as long as they snuff out Snodgrass’ supply. It’s crucial Idrissa Gueye, Gareth Barry and Seamus Coleman minimize the Scotsman’s time on the ball.

Hull’s woeful defensive record

Only Swansea City have a worse defensive record than the Tigers. Hull have conceded 39 goals in 18 matches and are prone to concede in bunches. The collective team spirit gets deflated easily and the bubble often bursts when Hull concede early. They have a skeleton crew devoid of any discernible depth, one of Mike Phelan’s main concerns – though he has many.

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Hull have conceded three goals on seven occasions, while Bournemouth and Liverpool scored six and five respectively against the Tigers.

Match prediction

Everton will win consecutive away matches for the first time since beating West Brom and Sunderland in late August and mid-September.

Hull will remain resilient for the lion’s share of the match but won’t be able to sustain the high workrate and physically robust nature their renowned for throughout. The big question is whether the Toffees will be able to keep a clean sheet in either a 2-0 or 2-1 victory.