Newcastle United vs Hull City: Can the Magpies respond to Monday’s setback with a win against surprise package Hull?

Newcastle will be looking to bounce back from Monday’s heavy defeat to Leeds as they host unbeaten Hull City in the Premier League on Saturday.

Newcastle will be keen to respond after suffering their first defeat of the season at Elland Road in a 4-1 loss which saw Matthias Jaissle’s side 3-0 down at half-time.

The defeat came as a surprise to many with Newcastle starting the season strong putting in strong performances against the likes of Liverpool, Spurs and Bournemouth whilst putting  West Brom and Millwall out of the Carabao Cup.

The result leaves Newcastle in 12th which is obviously far too early to be looking at tables considering we are only in September but a statistic that will worry Jaissle is that Newcastle are 16th in goals conceded per match so far this season which we saw on full display on Monday. 

The performance was a worrying one on Monday night but when asked about bouncing back, Jaissle said: “It is really important to show the right reaction after the Leeds United match, we are fully aligned and fully committed to show a reaction in front of our fans.

“It would be nice to finish this block of fixtures before the international break with a good result.”

On the other side you have Hull City who are absolutely flying at the minute and might count themselves unlucky not to have taken all three points at Stamford Bridge over the weekend having taken the lead in the first half.

Hull’s start to the season has been nothing short of sensational with wins against Man United and Coventry along with holding Aston Villa and Chelsea draws respectively.

Their brilliant start has been largely built on their defence which has conceded just two goals in their first four matches which both came on Saturday against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

When asked about his side's competitiveness Hull boss Sergej Jakirovic said his side have shown that they “can compete at this level”, 

“We will try to still be unbeaten but I’m expecting a very tough game especially after Newcastle’s defeat at Leeds.” 

The last time the two sides met competitively was in 2016 in the fifth round of the Carabao Cup which saw Hull City go through on penalties after the game ended 1-1 following extra-time which has since been dropped from the league cup,

Team News: 

For Newcastle, they will be without Anthony Elanga who missed the game on Monday and is having an MRI today, Jaissle said, “ hopefully it’s not that serious. They will also be without Nico Gonzalez, Amar Dedic and Jacob Ramsey who have picked up knocks along with Dan Burn, Joelinton and Will Osula who have been out longer-term.

For Hull City, they will be without Nobel Mendy because of concussion protocol but “everything is fine” and he is “good” according to Jakirovic, Matt Targett is a doubt after twisting his ankle. Longer-term the likes of Hidemasa Morita, Charlie Hughes, Darko Gyabi and Ilyas Ansah will all miss the match as well.

Predicted starting 11s:

Newcastle United: Hornicek; Hall, Thiaw, Botman, Livramento; Miley, Steur, Willock; Barnes, Murphy, Wissa.

Hull City: Tzolakis; Giles, Herrington, Ajayi, Egan, Coyle; Stroud, Slater, Crooks, Belloumi; McBurnie.