On Friday 1st April 2022, 20th placed Hull City take on fourth-placed Huddersfield Town in the EFL Championship. In the reverse fixture back in October 2021, it was Huddersfield who came out on top with a 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Tom Lees and Duane Holmes. Coming into this game which will take place after the international break, Hull lost to Luton 1-3 at home, and Huddersfield lost 0-3 to Bournemouth.
Hull City are coming into this match after losing 1-3 at home to Luton Town. Tom Eaves scored the consolation goal in stoppage time but it was nowhere near enough. This defeat means Hull City have lost 20 games this season, with 11 wins and eight draws. Hull City have underperformed their xG output this season. They should have scored 39 times by now, but they have netted only 33 times so far this season.
Seen above is the shot map of Hull this season from open play. They have missed quite an amount of big chances, hence the underperformance in xG, as seen with the big orange and red circles. No Hull player has even reached double figures in goals. Their top goalscorer is Keane Lewis-Potter with eight goals.
Callum Elder is Hull’s most successful threat creator this season. But most of his threat comes from set-pieces (his corners). From open play, it is Lewie Coyle who created the most threat for Hull. Keane Lewis-Potter is once again the team’s leader in assists but has only three to his name.
Huddersfield are coming off a 0-3 loss at home to fellow promotion rivals Bournemouth. This defeat means Huddersfield have a record of 17 wins, 12 draws, and 10 losses. Only two teams have lost fewer games this season – Fulham and Bournemouth. Despite the loss against Bournemouth, Huddersfield have overperformed on their xG. It predicted Huddersfield to score 46 goals till now but the team have netted 51 times, a good overachievement.
Despite the overachievement in attack, Huddersfield rank just above average in percentile terms for goals scored per 90 as well as xG per 90. They also rank slightly below average for assists per 90 and key passes per 90. Huddersfield may have overperformed on their xG, but they have underperformed on their xA.
This is a clash between an underperforming attack (Hull City) and an overperforming attack (Huddersfield Town). On paper, Huddersfield should win this game, but they lost their second consecutive game coming into this fixture. The hosts will look to win to improve their chances of survival, and the visitors will want to strengthen their promotion hopes.
