Both aiming to build on victories last weekend, Hull City and Plymouth Argyle will do battle at the MKM Stadium on Saturday.
The hosts find themselves fourth in the Championship table thanks to a seven-match unbeaten run in the league, while their visitors climbed into the top half with a thrashing of Norwich City last time out.
Match preview
© Reuters
Looking to build on last season's 15th-placed finish in their first full term under the management of Liam Rosenior, Hull City have certainly enjoyed a positive start to the new Championship campaign, as they currently sit fourth with 15 points on the board from just eight outings.
After suffering a narrow defeat in their curtain-raiser away at Norwich City, the Tigers have since gone unbeaten in the last seven second-tier games, as they bounced back from the opening-day setback in style by earning 10 points from the next four matches prior to the international break, scoring victories over Sheffield Wednesday, Blackburn Rovers and newly-relegated Leicester City alongside a draw with Bristol City.
On their return to action in mid-September, Rosenior's men hosted Coventry City and extended the unbeaten streak with a 1-1 draw, having pulled level in the 87th minute through Aaron Connolly, before earning another creditable point from a goalless stalemate with Yorkshire rivals and promotion-hopefuls Leeds United before most recently travelling to take on Stoke City last Sunday.
Connolly put them ahead on the half-hour mark in that contest and Adama Traore instantly added a second, before Regan Slater added his name to the scoresheet in the 73rd minute of an eventual 3-1 triumph, moving the Tigers into the playoff places as a result.
Now bound to be full of confidence thanks to their strong run, which has included four victories, Hull will aim to continue building momentum with another three-point haul on Saturday, as they aim to further strengthen their position among the frontrunners this term.
© Reuters
In their way stand a Plymouth Argyle side who make the long trip north aiming to make it back-to-back league wins for the first time this season, having enjoyed a positive start of their own after winning promotion back to the Championship last time around under the management of Steven Schumacher.
The Pilgrims topped England's third tier with 101 points in 2022-23 and carried momentum into the new campaign as they began with a home victory over Huddersfield Town and a commendable draw against Watford, only to suffer 2-1 defeats in the following meetings with Southampton and Birmingham City, both of whom profited from decisive goals deep in injury time.
Schumacher's men were able to bounce back prior to the international break with a 3-0 beating of Blackburn Rovers, but their return to action was again marked by consecutive defeats, as trips to Preston North End and Bristol City in mid-September ended in 2-1 and 4-1 losses respectively prior to their latest outing at home to Norwich City last Saturday.
They again bounced back and were certainly able to put up a dominant display in that contest, going into the interval 4-0 up thanks to a pair of goals from Morgan Whittaker and strikes from Dan Scarr and Finn Azaz, and despite Adam Idah hitting a late brace for the visitors, the Pilgrims still came away with an eye-catching 6-2 triumph as Whittaker turned his first-half double into a hat-trick and Luke Cundle added a sixth in the final minutes of injury time.
Now with some renewed confidence from that impressive display and return to winning ways, Plymouth will now seem to end their inconsistent spell and make it back-to-back wins for the first time since winning promotion on Saturday, albeit in another tough test.
Team News
© Reuters
Hull City will head into the weekend without key defender Jacob Greaves, who will serve a one-match suspension after being shown a fifth yellow card of the Championship campaign in their victory away at Stoke last weekend, and Sean McLoughlin will come in to join Alfie Jones at the heart of the back four in his absence, while Ryan Allsop will continue to get the nod between the sticks having impressed in their last two outings following a summer switch from Cardiff City.
Aside from that enforced change, Liam Rosenior may opt to deploy the same starting XI from that Stoke triumph, although midfielder Ozan Tufan is vying to come back in from the outset following an injury layoff, after Jean-Michael Seri and Tyler Morton were preferred in the engine room last time out.
Aaron Connolly is bound to again lead the line, having notched up five goals in eight league games so far this term, while Regan Slater, Adama Traore and Jaden Philogene were preferred in a supporting trio last time out, with summer arrivals Scott Twine and Liam Delap both fighting to break into the attack from the start on Saturday, as are Jason Lokilo and Allahyar Sayyadmanesh.
After rotating heavily for their midweek trip to Bristol City last week, Steven Schumacher reverted to a more usual Plymouth Argyle starting XI at the weekend, and we should see an unchanged setup from the outset on Saturday after the thrashing of Norwich, with Morgan Whittaker lining up on the right wing with confidence having now contributed four goals and three assists in eight Championship appearances this term following his hat-trick last time out.
He will flank Ryan Hardie, who has also enjoyed an impressive start to the league campaign, netting five goals and providing three assists, with Finn Azaz also likely to fill the final spot in the front line.
In a new-look 3-4-3 setup, Adam Randell and Jordan Houghton could again partner up in the engine room with Julio Pleguezuelo, Dan Scarr and Lewis Gibson bound to line up in an unchanged back three, while Bali Mumba is another danger man in a wing-back role on the left-hand side.
Hull City possible starting lineup:
Allsop; Christie, McLoughlin, Jones, Vinagre; Seri, Morton; Slater, Traore, Philogene; Connolly
Plymouth Argyle possible starting lineup:
Hazard; Pleguezuelo, Scarr, Gibson; Edwards, Randell, Houghton, Mumba; Whittaker, Hardie, Azaz
We say: Hull City 2-1 Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle have certainly impressed at points since their promotion and have the ability to cause any side problems, particularly with their attacking talent, but the Pilgrims are yet to demonstrate the consistency that their hosts have thus far, and we fancy Rosenior's men to put up another impressive victory at the weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
