Hull City and Sheffield Wednesday will both go in search of their first points of the Championship season on Saturday, when they square off at the MKM Stadium in the second round of league games this term.

The hosts fell just short away at Norwich City in their curtain-raiser, while the visiting side were beaten by Southampton last Friday, with both sides having then experienced differing fortunes in the EFL Cup in midweek.

Match preview

Following Liam Rosenior's appointment as manager in November last year, Hull City would eventually finish the 2022-23 Championship season in 15th place with 58 points from their 46 matches, and they set their sights on continuing their improvement in their first full campaign under their boss.

The Tigers were tasked with a trip to Norwich City on the opening day, and in a tough test, they made a positive start as Liam Delap capitalised on a defensive error to put the Tigers ahead inside the opening 20 minutes at Carrow Road.

They would go into the interval level, though, as Jon Rowe levelled the scores on the stroke of half time, before Rosenior's men were denied a share of the spoils in agonising fashion, as Adam Idah tapped home a winner for the hosts in the 96th minute, with the Tigers boss sent off for his protests in the aftermath.

Following that opening-day disappointment, Hull would welcome Yorkshire rivals Doncaster Rovers to the MKM Stadium on Tuesday in the first round of the EFL Cup, their second competitive outing of the term, and again go ahead early as Oscar Estupinan opened the scoring in the third minute, but they would eventually drop out of the competition following a more concerning defeat as George Miller netted a brace for the fourth-tier visitors, with the decisive goal coming on the hour mark.

Now with confidence bound to have taken a hit in the camp following their first two fixtures, the Tigers will look to build some positive momentum and put their first Championship points on the board at the second time of asking on Saturday.

Their visitors are also seeking their first points of the term after a tough opening-day fixture of their own, with Sheffield Wednesday having returned to the Championship this year after winning promotion through the League One playoffs under the management of Darren Moore last time around.

The South Yorkshire outfit would not head into the new term under the promotion-winning boss though, as Moore would depart after their dramatic Wembley triumph over Barnsley, courtesy of Josh Windass's 123rd-minute goal, with the Owls turning to Xisco Munoz to step into the hot seat.

After a difficult pre-season, the Owls would begin life back in England's second tier at home to newly-relegated Southampton, and after withstanding heavy pressure throughout, they looked in a good position to take a share of the spoils as Lee Gregory equalised in the 54th minute after the visitors went ahead through a Nathan Tella shot which deflected in off Adam Armstrong.

That was not to be, though, as Che Adams restored the Saints' lead three minutes from time, although Munoz's men do now head into the weekend on the back of an EFL cup triumph in midweek, as Tyreeq Bakinson kept their home tie against Stockport County alive and forced a 1-1 draw with a 97th-minute leveller after Paddy Madden's first-half opener.

Sheffield Wednesday would prevail in that shootout, as Lee Gregory converted the decisive spot kick, and they will now travel to the MKM Stadium with the aim of scoring their first league victory of the campaign and under their new boss.

Team News

Liam Rosenior made eight changes to his Hull City team between their league opener against Norwich and Tuesday's cup tie with Doncaster, and he has several decisions to make, including in attack with Oscar Estupinan hoping to lead the line after his goal in midweek, while Aaron Connolly will also hope to feature, as will Liam Delap who opened his account for the club on debut.

Indeed, Estupinan and Delap could lead the line with Connolly likely moving out onto the wing and Ozan Tufan backwards into the engine room alongside either Regan Slater, Xavier Simons or Jean-Michael Seri.

Further back, Jacob Greaves and Alfie Jones should reform their centre-back partnership, while Sporting Lisbon loanee Ruben Vinagre will feature on the left-hand side of the defence and Lewie Coyle and Cyrus Christie will battle to start on the right.

Similarly to their hosts, Sheffield Wednesday made seven changes between their matches on Saturday and Tuesday, and new goalkeeper Devis Vasquez, who debuted in their cup tie, will likely keep his place between the sticks ahead of Cameron Dawson, while fellow new arrivals Di'Shon Bernard and Bambo Diaby were also handed debuts and will compete with Michael Ihiekwe and Dominic Iorfa to start in the middle of the defence.

Will Vaulks and captain Barry Bannan will remain key in midfield, with the latter getting further forward to support the attack, while Tyreeq Bakinson will hope to come back into the midfield, having started on the opening day before coming off the bench to score their injury-time equaliser on Tuesday, although George Byers has also returned to contention and will be keen to come in from the outset after an injury layoff.

There is competition in attack, too, with Michael Smith fighting for a first start of the term, having missed Tuesday's game through illness, while Lee Gregory and Josh Windass will also hope to play starring roles, with summer signings Juan Delgado, Anthony Musaba and Ashley Fletcher similarly fighting to impress.

Hull City possible starting lineup:
Ingram; Coyle, Jones, Greaves, Vinagre; Traore, Seri, Tufan, Connolly; Estupinan, Delap

Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:
Vasquez; Valentin, Iorfa, Ihiekwe, Famewo; Vaulks, Bakinson; Delgado, Bannan, Windass; Gregory

We say: Hull City 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday

Both sides should see Saturday's fixture as a good opportunity to score their first victory of the season against closely-matched opposition, and we cannot quite pick a winner and instead see them each taking a point from a hard-fought encounter.


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