Hull City's search for their first Championship win since New Year's Day will continue on Tuesday night when they travel to Ewood Park to take on Blackburn Rovers.
The Tigers are currently 14th in the Championship table on 40 points, while Blackburn sit two positions and four points above their opponents in this match.
Match preview
© Reuters
A four-game unbeaten run in the Championship between January 11 and February 1 had seen Blackburn move up the table, but they suffered a 1-0 defeat at home to promotion hopefuls Fulham on Saturday afternoon.
It has still been a positive start to 2020 for Rovers, though, and they are currently 12th in the table, just six points off the playoffs with 15 matches of the 2019-20 campaign left.
Blackburn have been away from the Premier League since the 2011-12 season, while they only returned to the Championship last term having dropped into League One.
The club does appear to be moving in the right direction once again, though, and it is not impossible to imagine them being on the brink of the playoffs heading into the final straight despite their injury problems.
Tony Mowbray's side have won each of their last three meetings with Hull in all competitions, meanwhile, including a 1-0 success when they travelled to the KCOM Stadium back in August.
© Reuters
Hull managed to end a run of four straight Championship defeats by picking up a point at Reading on Saturday, with Mallik Wilks coming off the bench to score late on in the 1-1 draw.
There is no getting away from the fact that it has been a tough few weeks for the club, particularly considering that they lost both Jarrod Bowen and Kamil Grosicki during the January transfer window.
The Tigers have credit in the bank having already collected 40 points, though, and they are still 11 points clear of the relegation zone despite their disappointing form in recent weeks.
As mentioned, Hull have lost the last three league meetings between the two sides, but they did go unbeaten in four straight matches against Blackburn between February 2013 and January 2018.
Blackburn Championship form: LDWWDL
Blackburn form (all competitions): LDWWDL
Hull Championship form: WLLLLD
Hull form (all competitions): LLLLLD
Team News
© Reuters
Blackburn's injury list is fairly substantial at the moment with Lewis Holtby, Joe Rothwell, Brad Lyons, Corry Evans, Bradley Dack, Joe Grayson and Greg Cunningham all on the sidelines.
Mowbray's side did not pick up any fresh concerns against Fulham, though, and it seems likely that the bulk of the XI from that match will take to the field once again.
Ben Brereton and Danny Graham will both be hoping for starts having featured off the bench against the Cottagers, but Adam Armstrong is again expected to lead the line having scored eight Championship goals this season.
As for Hull, Callum Elder returned from a calf injury to feature against Reading, but Jordy de Wijs, Matthew Pennington and James Scott remain on the sidelines.
Jon Toral, Kevin Stewart and Martin Samuelsen are also still unavailable through injury, but Marcus Maddison should keep his spot in the XI having started against Reading.
Wilks's goal at the weekend might also have put him in contention for a start, though, while Josh Magennis is another option for change in the final third of the field.
Blackburn possible starting lineup:
Walton; Nyambe, Lenihan, Adarabioyo, Bell; Johnson, Travis; Downing, Rankin-Costello, Gallagher; Armstrong
Hull possible starting lineup:
Long; Elder, McLoughlin, Lichaj, McKenzie; Irvine, Honeyman, Batty, Lopes, Maddison; Eaves
We say: Blackburn 1-1 Hull
This is a tough match to call as the league table suggests that there is not too much between the sides. Both managers will feel that they can harm the opposition in the final third of the field, but we are finding it difficult to separate them over the course of the 90 minutes.
Matt Law
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a win with a probability of 49.47%. A win for had a probability of 25.72% and a draw had a probability of 24.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.81%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.5%) and 2-0 (8.71%). The likeliest win was 0-1 (7.32%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.78%).
