Hull City take on the visitors Millwall in the first leg of English Championship playoff semifinals. The match will be played on Friday, May 8th at MKM Stadium (Hull).
Hull City, managed by Serhiy Yakirovych, finished the regular season in 6th place, edging the nearest challenger by just two points and essentially squeezing into the promotion playoffs for a place in the Premier League. The team looked fairly strong going forward, scoring 70 goals in 46 matches, but defensively they had huge problems, with only three clubs in the league conceding more than their 66 goals against. Their form during the final month of the campaign was also far from impressive. Hull have struggled badly to keep clean sheets lately, with defensive instability becoming a constant issue throughout spring. Even at home, the team have often looked vulnerable under pressure and allowed opponents too many dangerous chances. In their last seven matches, they won only once — a 2-1 victory over Norwich City F.C. — while in the other games they managed no better than draws. Moreover, across their previous 12 matches, they kept only one clean sheet, while in five of those encounters they conceded at least twice, including against today’s opponent, who beat them 3-1 away from home.
| 2 x £10 Free Bet | Review | |||
| 100$-500$ for No Lose Free Bets | Review | |||
| 100% up to £200 | Review | |||
| Not available | Review |
Millwall finished 3rd with 83 points, only one point short of the automatic promotion spots to the Premier League. That success was achieved in large part thanks to a powerful finish to the season, during which Millwall lost only once in seven matches — interestingly, just like Hull, they were beaten by Norwich City F.C., also by a 1-2 scoreline. Millwall have looked extremely dangerous in attack recently, especially against teams with shaky defensive structures. Their confidence in front of goal has clearly grown, with the side regularly creating and converting multiple scoring opportunities per game. Most of their other opponents were beaten convincingly, often with at least two goals scored. Among those results were 2-1 wins over Middlesbrough F.C., 2-0 victories against Queens Park Rangers F.C. and Oxford United F.C., as well as a 3-1 success versus Stoke City F.C.. So even if the team occasionally had issues with finishing during the season, the final stretch showed major improvement in that department.
The pick on Millwall’s individual total over 2 goals is based not only on the fact that they finished much higher in the table and collected 10 more points than Hull. Hull are also among the weakest defensive teams in the league, and their poor results throughout March and April only reinforce that view. As for Millwall, in just their last four matches they scored at least three goals on three occasions, which is another strong argument in favor of this selection. It is also impossible to ignore the previous head-to-head meeting, which ended in a convincing 3-1 victory for Millwall. It is important to note that match was also played at the MKM Stadium, the same venue hosting today’s encounter.
Prediction for the match: Millwall to score over 1.0 handicap.
