Hull vs Cardiff prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-12-15 15:00.
Not since being promoted to the Premier League (PL) in both 2012/13 and 2015/16 have Hull City collected so many points after 21 rounds, which is an excellent omen heading into a busy two-week period in which they play three Championship games at home and visit out-of-form Bristol City. They could potentially move into the top six with a victory over Cardiff City here if Bristol City do them a favour and take points off nearest rivals Sunderland.
Head coach Liam Rosenior would have been pleased to come out on top away to Middlesbrough (2-1), who prior to the game he had declared a fellow top-six contender, particularly after a first half that he described as “the worst we have played in a long, long time”. Such morale boosting away wins will go a long way in this league, but Hull need to sharpen up at home to make the most of it, as against teams ranked 20th or higher at the start of the round, Hull have defeated only Preston at MKM Stadium (W1, D4, L2).
Mid-table Cardiff were equal with Hull on points prior to the previous round, where they suffered a 1-0 loss at home to Birmingham City that dented their own aspirations of climbing into the top six. That made it three defeats from four games, which prompted manager Erol Bulut to tell reporters after the Birmingham game that he has “not seen enough” from his players in their last two matches, despite including a 1-0 win over Millwall.
That’s an untimely drop in form considering the busy short-term schedule ahead and whether they can bounce back on the road remains to be seen, considering they’ve lost half of their ten Championship away trips (W3, D2). But wins along the way at Sunderland (1-0) and Preston (2-1), both of whom started this round either side of Hull in the top half of the table, could inspire them to end a run of four consecutive H2H losses.
Players to watch: Hull loanee Scott Twine must be enjoying the surroundings of the MKM Stadium, scoring in each of their last two home games. One of Callum Robinson’s nine competitive goals for Cardiff since the start of last season came against Hull in November 2022.
Hot stat: Hull have conceded nine opening goals within the first 30 minutes this season, compared with just two for Cardiff.