…but it’s Winter when Saturday’s opponents are rising after slumping in rainy Autumn 2025. After a dismal run of results, especially in November which led to the departure of manager Alan Sheehan, The Swans have improved to become one of the form sides in the division. 19 points over the past 10 games puts them joint 3rd with Boro in the Championship form table, only City and Ipswich have better recent records.

City were probably worth a point back in September when John Egan’s 90+7 minute equalizer earned a late 2-2 draw. Vipotnik and Ronald were the scorers for the hosts back then, both players getting their 3rd goals of the season in only 5 Championship matches. Since then, Zan Vipotnik has kicked on and leads the league’s scoring charts with 13 goals. Ronald is still on 3 goals having not scored since his 57th minute strike put them 2-1 up against us back on September 13th. The fact that he remains their 2nd top scorer of the season tells a lot about how much they rely on Vipotnik for goals.

Limiting the chances for the big Slovenian will likely be in Sergej’s gameplan to win the match. If successful, you would fancy City’s chances of picking up yet another win. Also on Jakirovic’s radar as a possible area to exploit will be the possible absence of Galbraith at right-back. If he fails to recover from his knock during the previous game v Blackburn, it’s likely that veteran Joel Ward will start. At 36 years old, the former Palace defender offers plenty of experience but may well struggle against Millar for pace judging by how the Canadian kept up with the sprinting Akintola to give City the lead on Tuesday. 31 minutes of football this season may also see him quite rusty, so a look at the starting line-ups on Saturday lunch time will show if there’s an opportunity there.

Also in the Tigers’ favour is the visitors’ away record. Despite their good recent form overall, The Swans have lost 5 of their previous 6 games on the road. Their only win was a 1-0 triumph over lowly Oxford, and they have conceded 11 in the other 5 games in that run. City’s home record is hit-and-miss with 3 wins and 3 losses over the past 6, but it’s actually 2 wins from the last 2 with a 3-0 goal difference, so you’d fancy the big Bosnian’s boys to triumph again.

In terms of team news, City were sweating on the fitness of John Egan although it looks like he trained well on Thursday and should be fit to take part, along with David Akintola. Joseph should also be available again and with Dowell possibly arriving in time to feature, and Gelhardt likely to get more minutes, expect to possibly see an unchanged line-up with plenty of strength on the bench. One person who won’t be involved is Kasey Palmer who has joined Luton on loan. More reinforcements are inbound however, so expect to see McNair and Collyer feature in next week’s match v Blackburn.

At the risk of jinxing the boys, I’m confident of a comfortable home win and will be putting City in my accumulator bet for the weekend.
My prediction: Hull City 3 – 1 Swansea

Hull City possible starting lineup:
Pandur; Coyle, Hughes, Egan, Famewo; Crooks, Slater; Hirakawa, Hadziahmetovic, Millar; McBurnie