After both kicking off their Championship campaigns at the weekend, Hull City and Sheffield Wednesday will square off at the MKM Stadium in the first round of the EFL Cup on Wednesday.
The hosts salvaged a draw late on in their season opener against Bristol City, while their visitors sit atop England's second tier after the first round of games thanks to a resounding home win.
Match preview
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Hull City head into the EFL Cup first round on Wednesday aiming to progress past this stage for the first time in four seasons, having fallen at the first hurdle in their last three attempts.
Their latest campaign began at home to fourth-tier Doncaster Rovers last August, and the Tigers, then under the management of Liam Rosenior, failed to progress despite taking an early lead through Oscar Estupinan, as George Miller went on to fire the visitors to a 2-1 win with a brace.
Rosenior would lead the Yorkshire outfit for the remainder of the 2023-24 campaign, eventually guiding them to a seventh-placed Championship finish, three points short of the final playoff spot, before departing over the summer and being replaced by Tim Walter.
Following a tough pre-season schedule, in which they managed two draws alongside four defeats, the Tigers raised the curtain on their latest second-tier campaign at home to Bristol City on Saturday, and after falling behind to a Fally Mayulu goal six minutes from time, they were able to win a penalty which Estupinan converted in injury time to snatch a point from a 1-1 draw.
Now searching for a first competitive victory under their new boss, Hull City will set out to build on that late leveller at the weekend and progress in the EFL Cup against fellow second-tier opposition.
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That will be no easy task, though, as the visitors travel across Yorkshire on the back of a confidence-boosting win to start the season on Sunday.
Then under the management of Xisco Munoz, Sheffield Wednesday did make it past the first round of last season's EFL Cup but were unable to progress any further, initially beating then-fourth-tier Stockport County in a penalty shootout at Hillsborough after a 1-1 draw, before playing out the same scoreline against Mansfield Town and falling short in the shootout.
Following a dismal start to their Championship campaign under Munoz, Danny Rohl took the reins at Hillsborough in October and led a memorable survival bid, as the Owls fought from behind to steer clear of the drop, eventually finishing three points clear of the drop zone in 20th spot thanks to three straight wins to end the season.
Then following a victory, a draw and a defeat in their pre-season preparations, the Owls kicked off their first full campaign under Rohl in style at the weekend, hosting Plymouth Argyle in the Championship and dishing out a 4-0 beating, as Jamal Lowe had them 1-0 up at the interval and a Brendan Galloway own goal doubled the lead before Josh Windass and Michael Smith got on the scoresheet in the dying minutes.
With spirits bound to be high after that opening-day win to put them top of the Championship, Sheffield Wednesday will now bid to make it back-to-back victories to start the campaign before returning to league action away at Sunderland on Sunday.
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Team News
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In order to assess and afford further opportunities to more of his Hull City squad, Tim Walter may opt to make several changes for Wednesday's cup tie from their season opener at the weekend, although Dogukan Sinik, Ryan Longman, Jean-Michael Seri and Cody Drameh could all remain out after missing the Bristol City contest.
Defender Finley Burns and winger Liam Millar should both come in from the outset, having earned debuts off the bench on Saturday after their summer arrivals from Manchester City and Basel respectively.
Fellow summer signing Marvin Mehlem made a full debut in midfield and should again feature on Wednesday, as should Oscar Estupinan, who marked his return from a loan spell away from the Tigers with their equaliser from the spot last time out, while Brandon Fleming, Will Jarvis and Tyrell Sellars-Fleming will all compete to come in from the start.
Danny Rohl should also rotate his Sheffield Wednesday squad somewhat for Wednesday's trip, with summer signings Olaf Kobacki and Charlie McNeill hoping to make full debuts while Ike Ugbo will also bid to come into the start, having completed a permanent move from Troyes on Thursday after hitting seven goals in 18 Championship appearances in a loan spell with the Owls last season.
Bambo Diaby, Pol Valentin and Marvin Johnson will all fight to come into the defence, after Yan Valery and Max Lowe made competitive debuts either side of Dominic Iorfa and Di'Shon Bernard at the weekend.
Josh Windass and summer signing Jamal Lowe may both keep their places after opening their accounts for the season on Sunday, while Liam Palmer may be given an opportunity in the midfield after Svante Ingelsson made his debut alongside captain Barry Bannan on Sunday.
Hull City possible starting lineup:
Racioppi; Coyle, Jones, Burns, Fleming; Simons; Omur, Mehlem, Jarvis, Millar; Estupinan
Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:
Beadle; Valentin, Diaby, Ihiekwe, Johnson; Ingelsson, Palmer; Kabacki, Windass, McNeill; Ugbo
We say: Hull City 1-2 Sheffield Wednesday
With both sides expected to make changes to their starting sides on Wednesday, we see the visitors having more strength in depth than their hosts, who are dealing with several notable absentees as well as losses of key men last season.
On the back of a statement win to start the season, we back Sheffield Wednesday to advance to the EFL Cup second round with a victory at the MKM Stadium.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
