Stoke vs Hull Prediction: Low-scoring affair expected

Stoke City welcome Hull City to the bet365 Stadium on Friday (20:00, Sky Sports Football) in the Championship, in what is the Potters's first league match since sacking Steven Schumacher. Narcis Pelach is his successor, having arrived from the coaching staff at league rivals Norwich City.

The hosts have won two of their opening five matches and have lost the other three. Hull are still scrambling for their first win of the season as their situation is very different to last year when they were fighting for the play-offs. The Tigers drew their first three fixtures but have lost two on the bounce, with individual mistakes being costly. Read on for my Stoke vs Hull prediction, featuring match odds and team news.

Stoke vs Hull Odds

Stoke are 1/1 to win this clash, which gives them a theoretical chance of 50%. Hull are 23/10 to collect their first three points of the season, giving them an implied probability of 30.3%. The draw is on offer at 9/4 (30.8%).

Both teams to score is available at 4/6 and over 2.5 goals is marketed at 5/6.

Football Odds

Team News 

Stoke welcomed back defensive duo Enda Stevens and Michael Rose in their Carabao Cup victory over Fleetwood Town on Tuesday. Sam Gallagher and Lynden Gooch remain in the treatment room, however, with the latter picking up a medial ligament injury in the defeat to Oxford United at the weekend.

It will be interesting what changes could be afoot for the hosts with a new manager in the dugout, especially one who is taking on their first managerial post. I think the priority will be defensive stability but against a side that are yet to win a game this season, we could see a Stoke side set up to take the three points.

For the visitors, Tim Walter could make alterations to the team that were beaten by Sheffield United last time out, especially as he needs to find a win soon, as we know the unforgiving nature of the Championship when it comes to managers. He'll have seen what has unfolded at Stoke this week and will be closely watching his own back.

He has a decision to make up top between Chris Bedia and Mason Burstow with both strikers still awaiting their first goals of the season. The former has been given the nod in the last two defeats, so Walter may think it is time to freshen things up again.

After joining the Tigers on a free transfer, Steven Alzate will be hoping to be included in the match day squad for the first time on Friday night. Xavier Simons will be pushing for a start in the engine room following two defeats in a row and this game feeling like a must-win following what has unfolded with the Potters this week.

Under 2.5 goals @ 5/6

I think this market is worth backing because both these sides have struggled for goals in their opening five matches. Stoke have found the back of the net on three occasions, while Hull have scored just two.

Under 2.5 goals has been a winning selection in three of their five league outings so far, as well as in all of Hull's Championship matches. Goals are very hard to come by for each team and therefore I don't think this Friday night clash will provide entertainment on that front. 

Over 10.5 corners @ 1/1

One thing I am expecting a lot of on Friday is corners. Hull may have only scored two goals in the league but they are having a lot of opportunities to score with the amount of corners they're getting.

The Tigers have seen over 10.5 corners land in three of their appearances in the Championship so far, and they posted 16 alone in their latest defeat to Sheffield United. Stoke have seen at least 11 corners scored in two of their five matches, so I think this is a market worth backing ahead of this clash at the bet365 Stadium.

Hull are averaging 6.6 corners for per game so far, while Stoke's is five. This makes me confident that this match will be filled with corners, even if I don't believe there will be many goals to go with it.

Offers

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