Premier League 2016-17 preview, predictions: No. 20, Hull City
With the 2016-17 Premier League season kicking off this weekend, FC Yahoo is rolling out previews for all 20 teams. We’ll be working our way up from the bottom of our predicted table, all the way to the champions.
Last season: One season down in the Championship was enough for Hull. The Tigers finished fourth, but bounced straight back up to the Premier League after a two-leg semifinal victory over Derby and 1-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday in the Promotion Playoff final. Mo Diame scored the winner at Wembley, a 72nd-minute, 25-yard belter.
What’s changed: Offseasons don’t get much worse than the one Hull has just endured. Manager Steve Bruce resigned over disagreements with the club’s owners. No permanent replacement has yet been named. With everything in flux, not a single senior signing has been made. Diame has been sold. And to make matters worse, three starting defenders and goalkeeper Alan McGregor have suffered long-term injuries. Not ideal.
FC YAHOO TAKE
Henry Bushnell: Look, you have to be pretty bold — perhaps irrational — to say Hull will finish anywhere outside the bottom three. Heck, our entire FC Yahoo crew has them bottom. But is there a case to be made? Sure. I guess. There’s already Premier League quality in midfield with Tom Huddlestone, Jake Livermore and Robert Snodgrass. Striker Abel Hernandez, at age 25, is coming off the best season of his career. And there’s still time for money to be spent. But that case ignores so many glaring flaws.
Alex Baker: Long-term injuries to several key players have left Hull in a situation where it may have only 13 senior squad members fit for its season opener against Leicester. Meanwhile, a bid to recruit Chris Coleman as a successor to Bruce has failed, and what we’re looking at currently is a club that’s already a shadow of what it was when it won promotion.
Bookmakers say: Point total over/under: 32.5 | Title odds: 1200/1 | Relegation odds: 2/3
FC YAHOO PREDICTIONS
Shahan Ahmed: 20 | Ryan Bailey: 20 | Alex Baker: 20 | Henry Bushnell: 20 | Joey Gulino: 20 | Joe Lago: 20 | Leander Schaerlaeckens: 20 | Average: 20 (20th)
More Previews
Arsenal | Bournemouth | Burnley | Chelsea | Crystal Palace | Everton | Hull City | Leicester City | Liverpool | Manchester City | Manchester United | Middlesbrough | Southampton | Stoke City | Sunderland | Swansea City | Tottenham | Watford | West Brom | West Ham
