United to take advantage of rivals flop to cut the gap at the table Machester United vs Hull City Preview

TEAM NEWS

Manchester United to cut the gap to the top four to two point taking advantage of Arsenal lose, with Liverpool and Tottenham drawing.
Jose Mourinho has confirmed Eric Bailly will play against Hull despite the fact he only injured his ankle playing for the U23s on Monday following his early arrival from Africa Cup of Nations.
The Manchester United manager made wholesale changes to the side that thrashed Wigan 4-0 on Sunday and will recall the likes of Michael Carrick, David De Gea, Paul Pogba, Antonio Valencia and Zlatan Ibrahimovic here.

Anthony Martial did not perform 'magnificently' against Wigan but did finish with two assists and had a goal disallowed, but Mourinho has confirmed he will drop back to the bench on Wednesday.
Luke Shaw also got a rare run out at the weekend but follow in Martial's footsteps due to the three-day turnaround. With Baily set to play, Marcos Rojo could move out to the left.

Curtis Davies picked up another injury during Hull's surprise 4-1 defeat to Fulham in the FA Cup on Sunday and could be out for eight weeks.
Dieumerci Mbokani is also unlikely to feature in Wednesday's clash following DR Congo's elimination from the Africa Cup of Nations at the weekend. Marco Silva is expected to be without nine other first-team players here.
Silva has denied Andrew Robertson will leave the club so he will play here. Andrea Ranocchia joined on Tuesday and is free to play here, although a place on the bench seems more likely unless Michael Dawson fails to overcome a slight problem.
Fellow deadline day signing Alfred N'Diaye is awaiting international clearance but may not have signed in time to feature here.
MANAGERS VIEW
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho: "The last time we played them, even a defeat would have been a good result. Even to lose the match by one goal difference would give us a final.

"And tomorrow only three points is a good result for us so if we don't win it's really bad because we need to win matches. That's a big difference, we need to win the match.

Hull head coach Marco Silva on the loan signing of Andrea Ranocchia: "Andrea is a good signing for us and he plays in a position that we needed to add to.

"We are happy with Michael Dawson, Harry Maguire and Curtis Davies but in these last games they do a lot to help the team. With the injury to Curtis now, we needed to bring in one more player.

"He has the quality to help improve our squad. He has played for a lot of years with Inter Milan and he is an international player for Italy. He is experienced also."
MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

This is their fourth encounter of the season and the third competitive meeting inside 23 days.
Hull's victory in the EFL Cup semi-final second leg was their first over Manchester United in any competition since November 1974.
Hull have picked up just one point in nine Premier League meetings.
Manchester United

Manchester United's 13-match unbeaten run in the league is their longest since they went 18 games without defeat under Sir Alex Ferguson in March 2013.
United have registered 77 attempts on target in their 11 league games at Old Trafford this season, which is already more than they did in the whole of last season at home.
The Red Devils have won an unrivalled 63 Premier League games on a Wednesday.
Wayne Rooney has scored seven goals and set up four more in his seven league appearances against Hull.
Hull City

Hull have won just two of their last 20 league games.
However, new head coach Marco Silva has won three of his first six games in all competitions.
After picking up four points from their first two away games in the league this season, they have lost their last nine in succession.
They have scored just six goals in their 11 away league games.
The Tigers have already conceded 10 penalties in the Premier League this season - one away from the equalling the record in a single campaign, set by Blackburn Rovers in 2006-07.