The season could implode for the Premier League’s bottom side Hull City over the next month.
Hull’s new manager Marco Silva got off to a winning start in the FA Cup on Saturday with a 2-0 victory over Swansea City in front of fewer than 7,000 fans due to a protest against the club’s owners.
But the Portuguese faces a much more daunting task of trying to prevent his side from being relegated. He will get a look at what the rest of Hull’s season is likely to be like when his team visit Manchester United in the first leg of their League Cup semi-final on Tuesday.
One of Silva’s main problems is that he may head into the game with no fit, senior centre-backs to call on.
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Midfielder Jake Livermore has already had to fill in there this season and Michael Dawson, the only centre-back able to start against Swansea, was taken off with a shoulder injury. They also had to play midfielder David Meyler at right-back.
Meanwhile, the FA Cup demonstrated just how deep United’s squad is starting to look.
A front four of Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, Juan Mata and Wayne Rooney might have been last season’s starting line-up, yet it is plausible none of these will start Sunday’s key Premier League game at home to Liverpool.
United had a stroll against Reading in the cup, running out 4-0 winners, which means manager Jose Mourinho has a fresh squad and plenty of options to choose from against Hull.
Add the fact that Hull have conceded 44 goals in 22 games this season and it does not look promising.
A bad result would not only make it near impossible for Hull to make the final but it would see Silva’s side off on the wrong foot for a vital run of games that already looks daunting.
They have a must-win match at home to Bournemouth on Saturday. After that? Chelsea, United, Liverpol, Arsenal.
Stick with Batshuayi, Chelsea
With the transfer window in full swing, rumours persist that Chelsea might look to swap their £33 million (Dh147m) summer signing Michy Batshuayi for Swansea City ’s veteran Spanish striker Fernando Llorente.
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte previously worked with Llorente, 31, at Juventus, while it seems he doesn’t quite trust 23-year-old Belgian forward Batshuayi. Evidence of that was when Eden Hazard played up front instead of Batshuayi when Diego Costa was suspended against Bournemouth last month.
Either striker will of course be back-up to Costa, who is having a sensational season. But Conte should rethink his plans. As effective as Llorente can be, especially with his aerial presence, if Costa was injured then Chelsea would struggle to win the league with his fellow Spaniard up front.
Llorente lacks the pace and link-up play of Costa whereas Batshuayi at least has the speed and the potential to learn everything else.
A better move for Chelsea would be to keep Batshuayi and complement their pool of strikers with the addition of Llorente, too.
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