Bristol City v Hull City Betting Tips

This match is slightly odd when you look at the prices with the Premier League side as the underdogs against a Championship team. However, when you examine the two teams in more depth then you can understand how the bookmakers have come up with these odds.

Bristol City have gone from relegation candidates last season to looking like they have a real shot of making the play-offs this season.

The Robins are currently within the top six but will have to maintain this good start for the next few months in arguably the world’s toughest league – a big ask.

Lee Johnson’s side are certainly good to watch and have a nice blend of young players such as Hörður Björgvin Magnússon and on-loan Chelsea starlet Tammy Abraham alongside experienced Football League players in Gary O’Neill and Aaron Wilbraham.

Although striker Tammy Abraham is the league’s second top scorer with eight goals, it is Bristol’s solidity at the back that has seen them do so well – particularly at home where they have not conceded more than one in a match all season.

I just hope that Lee Johnson does not rotate his squad and looks to keep the feel-good factor going by going out and beating Premier League opposition.

After a blistering start to the season under new manager Mike Phelan, Hull City find themselves in the bottom three and without a win since Phelan won the Manager of the Month award back in August.

The fact that they have a small squad was perhaps a bonus at the beginning of the campaign when the Tigers were doing well as it was very much an ‘all in it together’ attitude. However, now they are on a five match losing streak in the league, they do not have the options in the squad to try something vastly different.

Conversely, you could say that the August deadline-day signings interrupted Hull City’s flow after their excellent start. Either way the season is rapidly going downhill.

Defence is certainly the big concern for Phelan’s men with his team shipping 22 goals so far this season – the only team in the top flight to have conceded more than 20 goals.

They have gone from a narrow, last-minute 1-0 loss against a big side in Manchester United to losing games 4-1, 5-1 and even 6-1 against Bournemouth 10 days ago.

This weekend’s match against fellow strugglers Stoke City was one that they probably should have won but they conceded sloppy goals, losing 2-0. If a team is poor at the back, then you can at least hope they are good going forward. However, with Hull, this counter balancing benefit is nowhere to be seen as they have not scored more than once in a match since their last win – a 2-0 victory against Swansea City.

Confidence is no doubt low at the KCom Stadium at the moment and so Mike Phelan faces a dilemma. Does he essentially throw in the towel in the League Cup to concentrate on the Premier League or does he pick a strong squad against lower league opposition in order to hope they can get the confidence back by winning?

Having said that, I feel, even if Phelan picked a strong team for Tuesday night, the confidence issue will still be there as they go up against a side who are full of confidence and excellent at home.

I have to side with the bookies here and go with a Bristol City home win at 13/10. Secondly, I’m looking to push the boat out a bit and back ‘Bristol City to Win to Nil‘ at 31/10. Their defensive record at home is fantastic and, even though they are in the league below, they should not face a problem against this poor Hull City front-line – particularly if the Tigers weaken their team.

Finally, I think Bristol should be looking to score a couple of goals at Ashton Gate. Hull cannot defend for their lives at the moment, whilst the Robins have Tammy Abraham in red-hot form and so to score at least two goals should not be a problem for the home team.

See all of Tuesday’s EFL Cup tips here.